FC Barcelona has started its American tour by drawing 2-2 in an electric duel with Manchester City. The match, which was resolved in favour of the spoons In the final penalty shoot-out, he lived up to expectations and certainly left a good taste in the mouths of the 63,237 spectators who filled the Camping World Stadium in Orlando – despite the delay of the match due to bad weather.
Pau Victor and Pablo Torre have put Barça ahead twice in the first half, while the Iñaki Peña and Ander Astralaga They also earned a special mention for their interventions between the posts. The one by the Barça ’26’, with two penalties saved, was decisive in taking the victory on penalties against the all-powerful Manchester City.
Late start
The start of the eagerly awaited match had to be delayed by 75 minutes due to the threat of a thunderstorm in the skies over Orlando. After a certain period of uncertainty, the match got underway with a starting eleven full of youth players on the Blaugrana side: Iñaki Peña, Héctor Fort, Sergi Domínguez, Lenglet, Gerard Martín, Marc Bernal, Pablo Torre, Marc Casadó, Julián Araujo, Vitor Roque and Pau Víctor.
Pau Victor scores the first
City came out all guns blazing in the opening stages of the game. After two defeats in pre-season, Guardiola’s men started at full speed, pinning Barça back in their area. Grealish gave a warning with a shot that went wide from the edge of the box and, minutes later, Iñaki Peña prevented Haaland from scoring from the far post.
However, little by little Barça has been advancing metres and creating danger, mainly on the right flank of Julián Araujo. The first goal of the match, on the other hand, was born from a brilliant connection between Marc Casadó and Pau Víctor, who defined perfectly against Ederson. Great goal.
Exchange of blows before the break
Barça created danger when they approached the area, but so did City. The Citizens were able to equalise thanks to a good cross from O’Reilly after receiving a through ball in the area. Iñaki Peña, one of Barça’s best players, was unable to do anything on this occasion.
Everything pointed to a draw at half-time but a final Barça move, started by Gerard Martín from the left, ended with a true wonder goal from Pablo Torre. He cut back and shot across the right post of Ederson, unstoppable for the Brazilian. It was the second work of art cull in Orlando.
Three changes at half-time
Hansi Flick brought on Alex Valle, Toni Fernandez and Quim Junyent for the start of the second half, replacing Hector Fort, Julian Araujo and Vitor Roque. Aside from an initial scare for England, Barça came out dominating the game, with Pau Victor coming close to scoring a third in a move in which he had no choice but to dribble past the goalkeeper.
Football is a thing of the past, when Barça was doing better, City equalised. A quick transition from Kovacic’s own half broke several lines spoons and allowed Grealish to finish the goal off Iñaki Peña. 2-2.
Immediately after the equaliser, Flick made three more changes, bringing on Astralaga, Noah Darvich and Lewandowski. A quarter of an hour later, after a few minutes of calm, the last five changes came for the Blaugrana: Cuenca, Iñigo Martínez, Balde, Romeu and Guille Fernández came on. In the final stretch of the match, Barça once again deserved a goal that did not come, leading the match to a penalty shoot-out.
Astralaga, the final hero
In it, Barça converted all four of their penalties, while City saw Ander Astralaga stop the first two from Kalvin Phillips and Jacob Wright. Toni Fernández scored the fourth penalty cullwhich ensured a 4-1 victory in the shootout.
