Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Pau Victor's brace helps Blaugrana secure 2-1 win in pre-season El Clasico

By Sreejith CR | First Published Aug 4, 2024, 9:58 AM IST

Barcelona beat Real Madrid 2-1 in a pre-season El Clasico in New Jersey on Saturday thanks to youngster Pau Victor's brace. Los Blancos' lone goal came through Nico Paz's late effort.

Barcelona secured a 2-1 victory over Real Madrid in a pre-season El Clasico at Met Life Stadium in New Jersey on Saturday. Pau Victor scored a brace (42' & 54'), while Carlo Ancelotti's men pulled one back through Nico Paz's effort eight minutes from time. Meanwhile, the match was delayed by over an hour because of lightning. But that didn't have any effect on the intensity of the game as both teams played out an entertaining game of football.

Although it was Real Madrid who found the back of the net mid-way through the first half through Arda Guler, the Turkish youngster's goal was ruled out for offside. Three minutes before the break, Barca drew the first blood when Robert Lewandowski miscontrolled Alex Valle's perfect cross and the ball fell kindly for Victor to head home.

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It was the 22-year-old's second goal in two games, having got on the scoresheet against Manchester City last time out. The short interval, because of the delay, made sure the momentum was maintained and Victor scored is second of the night soon after. Nine minutes into the second half, full-back Valle delivered yet another brilliant cross to find Victor all alone through the middle and the Spaniard struck home from close range to make the score 2-0.

In response, Ancelotti brought in Vinicius Jr and Joan Martinez in place of Militao and Brahim Diaz. The Brazilian winger's introduction changed the tide somewhat in Los Blancos' favour, the 24-year-old combining with compatriot Endrick and coming close to halving the deficit from a corner but poor touch let him down.

Although Paz set up a thrilling finale by reducing the deficit with a thunderous header in the 82nd-minute, Flick's side held on to the slender lead and took home the spoils. The German tactician has made a positive start as the head coach of Barcelona, winning both the pre-season friendlies. Blaugrana will next take on AC Milan in Baltimore on Tuesday before returning to Spain for their final pre-season fixture versus Monaco next week.

The Catalan giants will kick-off their La Liga campaign away to Valencia on August 17. Real Madrid, on the other hand, will take on Chelsea in their final friendly on Wednesday, before battling it out against Atalanta in the UEFA Super Cup final at National Stadium Warsaw on August 14.

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