There was a draw with Manchester City (and a penalty shootout win), then a win with Real Madrid, and at the end of the US tour, a draw with AC Milan. This time, the match was not disrupted by a storm or other tornado. Everything went according to plan and the fans at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore watched a good, if not outstanding, spectacle.
It was above all a good match by Robert Lewandowski. Two goals scored, great desire to play. And with a bit of luck, you could even try for a hat-trick. Hansi Flick let the Pole play for almost 80 minutes.
The first goal? Very nice – after receiving the ball in the opponent’s half, FC Barcelona quickly got down to business, Raphinha passed it to Lewandowski, who fired a precise shot near the post from 16 meters. The second? Another coherent action, Pau Victor played from five meters and Lewandowski scored into an empty net. Another thing is that right at the beginning of the second half “Lewy” had a seemingly easy situation, but he missed the ball right in front of the goal.
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The first quarter of an hour belonged to the team from Milan, and Barca were completely lost in defense. For the first goal, Christian Pulisic was completely let go in the penalty area. The American had a lot of space, he passed to five meters, from where Luka Jović scored into an empty net. Five minutes later, Rafael Leao played the penalty, and Pulisic added a goal to his assist. The angle was very acute, but Pulisic found a gap and pressed the ball past the surprised Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
With time, Barca began to gain ground. Their dominance was particularly visible at the beginning of the second half, but it ended with only one goal scored. The end was much weaker. The coaches of both teams made a lot of changes and this was reflected in the level of the match.
The 2:2 draw lasted until the referee’s final whistle, so we had a penalty shootout. In this, the team from Milan proved to be slightly better.
For both teams, this was the last friendly match during the American tour. Now, it’s back home and the final stretch of preparations before the 2024/25 season.
FC Barcelona – AC Milan 2:2 (1:2) k. 3:4
0:1 Luka Jovic 10′ 0:2 Christian Pulisic 15′ 1:2 Robert Lewandowski 22′ 2:2 Robert Lewandowski 58′
Compositions:
Barcelona: Marc-Andre ter Stegen (61′ Inaki Pena) – Alex Valle (46′ Jules Kounde), Sergi Dominguez (78′ Andres Cuenca), Clement Lenglet (61′ Inigo Martinez), Gerard Martin (78′ Mikayil Faye) – Andreas Christensen (46′ Marc Bernal), Ilkay Gundogan (46′ Quim Junyent), Marc Casado – Raphinha (78′ Guille Fernandez), Robert Lewandowski (78′ Vitor Roque), Pau Victor.
Milan: Lorenzo Torriani – Alexis Saelemaekers, Fikayo Tomori (78′ Matteo Gabbia), Malick Thiaw (87′ Pierre Kalulu), Filippo Terracciano (78′ Alejandro Jimenez) – Samuel Chukwueze (78′ Hugo Cuenca), Yunus Musah (63′ Yacine Adli), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (87′ Kevin Zeroli), Christian Pulisić (63′ Noah Okafor), Rafael Leao (46′ Davide Calabria) – Luka Jović (46′ Ismael Bennacer).
Yellow cards: Gerard Martin, Marc Casado, Junyent (Barcelona) and Saelemaekers, Bennacer (Milan).
Judge: Victor Rivas (USA).
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