Football

Victor scores twice as Barcelona beat Real Madrid in US friendly

Aug 04, 2024

Pau Victor scored twice as Barcelona beat Spanish rivals and La Liga champions Real Madrid in a friendly in the United States.

Real are without England international Jude Bellingham and France forward Kylian Mbappe, with the duo missing out on the club’s tour of the US after playing for their countries at the European Championships in Germany this summer.

In the first El Clasico of the season, the match at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey was stopped after 12 minutes due to heavy rain.

Action resumed after more than an hour’s delay, with Barcelona taking the lead just before half-time when 22-year-old striker Victor headed home Robert Lewandowski.

Thibaut Courtois was saved well by Lewandowski before Victor got his second shortly after the break to double the lead for Hansi Flick’s side.

Nico Paz headed home for Real Madrid late on, but Barcelona held firm to secure victory.

Victor’s double means he has scored three goals in Barcelona’s two games on the US tour and also scored in a 2-2 draw with Premier League champions Manchester City earlier this week.

Ancelotti is not worried about the latest loss
The loss was Real Madrid’s second on the US tour after losing 1-0 to AC Milan last week.

They play Premier League side Chelsea on August 6 in North Carolina, but Real boss Carlo Ancelotti is not reading too much into his side’s back-to-back defeats.

Vinicius Jr looked sharp as he played his first minutes of the summer for the Spanish giants and Ancelotti said the purpose of the games was to give his players time to play rather than focus on the result.

“We are working on preparations and the players are gradually returning to the team. The result is not so important,” he said.

“The goal is for the players to get minutes and to get them in good shape.” We don’t focus on tactical aspects. It starts on the 7th [of August].

“We are not worried. It is a pre-season game and we are missing eight players.

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