EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ — Summer signing Pau Victor was the match-winner as a young Barcelona side overcame bitter rivals Real Madrid in a preseason friendly at MetLife Stadium on Saturday night.
Victor, who joined Barcelona from Girona this summer, scored from close range in each half to hand Barcelona a deserved 2-1 victory in a game heavily disrupted by severe thunderstorms.
It was Barcelona who started stronger, zipping the ball around in the opening ten minutes and forcing Thibaut Courtois into a decent save when Victor rose highest to direct a corner toward the near post.
However, any momentum that Hansi Flick’s side had built was cut short when the game was suspended in the 11th minute as a major thunderstorm descended on MetLife Stadium.
When the game eventually resumed more than an hour later, it was Madrid who were doing all the running.
Arda Guler thought he had opened the scoring for the European champions when he coolly slotted beyond Marc Andre Ter Stegen midway through the first half, only to be foiled by the offside flag.
Endrick, who officially joined Real Madrid from Palmeiras in the summer, went close to his first goal for the club when he latched onto an incisive Luka Modric pass and fired a snapshot just wide of Ter Stegen’s goal.
Barcelona weathered the storm, however, and took the lead against the run of play three minutes before the half-time break when Victor nodded home from close range after Robert Lewandowski diverted an Alex Valle cross into his path.
Valle was instrumental in Barcelona’s second when the game resumed after a shortened half-time break, picking Victor out with a superb cross with the outside of his left boot. The 22-year-old didn’t make the cleanest contact, but his close-range effort squirmed under Courtois to give Barcelona a two-goal lead.
Barcelona was in complete control and not even the introduction of Vinicius Jr. on the hour mark helped to stem the tide, with a partisan Madrid crowd growing increasingly frustrated as Flick’s young side kept the ball with ease.
However, Madrid were handed a lifeline when substitute Nico Paz fired a bullet header past substitute Barcelona goalkeeper Inaki Pena Sotorres after finding himself completely unmarked from a Guler corner with eight minutes remaining.
Madrid were unable to force a leveler in a frantic finale, with Flick’s side holding on for a deserved victory.
Flick, who took over as Barcelona manager ahead of the new season, said the game afforded him an opportunity to view some of the younger players at his disposal.
He also heaped praise on Victor, who has now scored three goals in two pre-season games after scoring against Manchester City in the opening game of Barcelona’s US tour on Wednesday.
“Two matches, three goals. That’s not bad. He knows how to score goals,” Flick said on Saturday night.” We’ll see what happens. The door is always open for the first team.”
Victor, meanwhile, said he was “proud” to score twice in his first Clasico.
“I’m very happy with my game,” Victor said. “The two goals did the job for the team.”
