Man City Beats Real Madrid 4-1, as Barca Defeats Manchester United

Manchester City players celebrating a goal

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City has spent big to bolster their defence this summer but showed they will be a force to reckon with at the other end this season in a 4-1 friendly win over Real Madrid on Wednesday.

 

A second-half blitz in front of 93,000 fans at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum saw City secure their first pre-season victory in style.

 

Real were unable to contain Guardiola’s side once they got their noses in front early in the second half.

 

The £28.5m (32 million euros, $37m) spent by City on Nicolas Otamendi two years ago now almost seems like small change after City have splashed out around £50m each on Kyle Walker, John Stones and Benjamin Mendy over the last 12 months.

 

But after Otamendi pounced from a couple of yards out to smash the ball into the net, the entire complexion of the International Champions Cup encounter changed.

 

Until that point, Real had been the more dangerous side in an end-to-end encounter, with Isco, in particular, causing City’s back five problems with his range of passing.

 

City’s new £32m keeper Ederson – culpable in last week’s friendly defeat to neighbours Manchester United – was forced to produce smart saves to deny Isco, Karim Benzema and Casemiro, with the latter also heading against the post.

 

Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero both went close at the other end, but once Otamendi found the net in the 52nd minute, on the rebound after Stones’s header was saved, City were rampant.

Substitute Raheem Sterling calmly tucked away a lovely through-ball from the impressive Kevin De Bruyne just moments after firing shot inches wide.

 

The advantage was then extended to three after Stones scuffed a shot into the far corner from a De Bruyne corner.

 

City were twice denied a third by the woodwork, with Francisco Casilla producing a stunning finger-tip save to push De Bruyne’s free-kick onto the post and then Leroy Sane smashing the ball against the near post within seconds of entering the field.

 

But the icing on the cake arrived for Guardiola’s side in the final 10 minutes, when 17-year-old Spaniard Brahim Diaz cut inside from the right and curled a beauty into the top corner from the edge of the area.

 

Real grabbed a late consolation when Oscar Rodriguez produced a stunning effort from 30 yards which soared into the top corner.

 

 

Neymar scores as Barcelona beat Man Utd 1-0

Neymar, serene amid a frenzy of transfer speculation, scored the first-half goal that gave Barcelona a 1-0 victory over Manchester United on Wednesday in an International Champions Cup friendly.

 

The Brazilian striker, reportedly pondering a 222-million euro ($256.8 million) move to Paris Saint-Germain, showed why the French club would be willing to pay a world-record price to get him.

 

He delivered his third goal in two matches in the exhibition tournament as Barcelona handed the English Premiership club their first defeat of the pre-season.

 

After a bright start, Manchester United struggled to contain Barcelona’s star duo of Neymar and Lionel Messi. Neymar broke through in the 31st, stripping the ball from Antonio Valencia in the penalty area, turning and finding the net.

 

The goal proved enough to give a second straight victory to new Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde. Valverde made sweeping changes to the team that beat Juventus 2-1. Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba, Samuel Umtiti, Nelson Semedo, Sergio Busquets and 19-year-old midfielder Carles Arena were included in the lineup headed by Messi and Neymar.

 

There were eight changes to the Manchester United team that defeated Real Madrid on penalties on Sunday, with captain Michael Carrick, Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard the only players to retain their starting spots.

 

It was Manchester United who threatened first, when Rashford’s cross found Romelu Lukaku in the area, but the Belgian couldn’t find the net.

 

Barcelona inexorably took control, and United goalkeeper David de Gea was given plenty of work by Neymar, Messi and Suarez. Messi came close in the 12th minute, his low effort sliding wide. A long-range effort from Lukaku, a fierce blast from Paul Pogba and a curling effort from Rashford all tested Barcelona keeper Jasper Cillessen in the space of minutes.

 

But from there Barcelona dominated. De Gea denied Neymar from close range in the 28th but had no answer for the Brazilian three minutes later.

 

Valencia had got control of a pass from Messi, but Neymar was there to regain the ball, turning in close quarters and firing past de Gea to the delight of the Barcelona fans among the 82,000-strong crowd at FedExField — home of the NFL’s Washington Redskins.

 

Three minutes before the break de Gea parried Suarez’s scissor-kick to keep it 1-0 to Barcelona at halftime.

 

Both coaches rang the changes at halftime, with Valverde replacing 10 players — only leaving Cillessen in goal.

 

Jose Mourinho made five changes in his Manchester United side, and the second half moved at a slower, less fluent pace.