Barcelona vs Real Madrid, Preseason Friendly: Final Score 2-1, Pau ...

Barcelona remain unbeaten in preseason after the second stop in their tour of the United States ended with a 2-1 win over Real Madrid in a very competitive El Clásico in New Jersey on Saturday night. Hansi Flick picked a slightly more experienced side compared to the friendly against Manchester City but it was a youngster who grabbed the headlines once again, as Pau Víctor scored both goals and led Barça to their fourth straight victory over their biggest rivals in American soil.

FIRST HALF

Barça made a strong start to the game and could have taken the lead just five minutes in thanks to a header from Pau Víctor that required a brilliant save by Thibaut Courtois, and Hansi Flick’s side began with the same hunger and intensity shown against Manchester City to press high up the pitch and move the ball quickly and with purpose.

Then came a 70-minute-long weather delay that made the pitch very heavy and slowed down Barça’s momentum, and the Blaugrana weren’t quite the same after the game resumed. Madrid had more of the ball and Barça struggled to maintain possession for extended stretches, and Los Blancos won the midfield battle for the next 20 minutes. Arda Güler even found the back of the net for Madrid, but the goal was ruled out for offside.

Then Marc Casadó, Marc Bernal and Pablo Torre finally became more involved in the action, and Barça once again grew into the game and started to create more danger. Alejandro Balde and Álex Valle became bigger threats from the full-back positions, and the Catalans had a strong finish to the half.

And that strong finish was rewarded with the opening goal: a perfect cross from Valle found Robert Lewandowski all alone inside the six-yard box, and despite his miskick the ball fell kindly to Pau Víctor who headed it home and scored his second goal in two games.

At halftime Barça were ahead after a strange half that lasted almost two hours and didn’t have many chances, but the Catalans had the lead thanks to their newest young star.

SECOND HALF

Thanks to the weather delay the halftime break lasted just over a minute and both teams stayed on the pitch to resume play as quickly as possible, with Hansi Flick making three changes at the break and Barça looking to maintain the momentum from the end of the first period.

That’s exactly what the Blaugrana did, pressing effectively and continuing to create danger with quick passing combinations and excellent movement, with Pau Víctor forcing yet another great save by Courtois with a powerful shot from distance early on.

Barça were by far the better team to start the second half and capitalized on their superiority: an excellent pass by Lewandowski found Valle all alone on the right wing, and the full-back played an outrageous cross with the outside of his left foot to find Pau Víctor all alone through the middle for a tap-in and the youngster’s second of the night.

Vinicius Junior came on shortly after Barça’s second goal looking to ignite a Madrid comeback, and the Brazilian almost found the net but was denied by a great save from Marc-André ter Stegen.

Flick made five changes shortly after the hour mark, including the much-anticipated debut of Mika Faye at center-back as well as Raphinha’s first action in preseason. It was also the end of Pau Víctor’s night, with the striker receiving a well-deserved hug from his coach after a fantastic performance.

Carlo Ancelotti also made several substitutions of his own, which led to the usual lull experienced midway through the second halves of preseason games. The two teams did pick up the pace again, however, with Madrid especially desperate for a way back and creating multiple chances through Vinicius that were cleared at the last second by the Barça defense.

Flick’s final set of changes included the preseason debut of Ilkay Gündogan, who played as a lone holding midfielder behind Noah Darvich and Guille Fernández in the last 15 minutes. Darvich almost set up Guille for a beautiful goal with a fantastic through ball, but Courtois made another important stop.

Madrid continued to push for a way back in the contest, and they found it with 10 minutes to go when a corner by Güler found Nico Paz all alone at the far post for an easy header that created some drama in the late stages of the game.

But Barça did a solid job to avoid conceding any late chances, and the final whistle came to give them another win against Madrid in American soil. Hansi Flick’s side once again played well and showed very positive signs in terms of their pressing and defensive organization, and plenty of youngsters gave the coach and the fans another sample of their talent.

Oh, and Pau Víctor is a star. Already.