Manchester City and Barcelona played out an entertaining draw in Orlando as the two European giants continued their preparations for the new season.
This was the third match of Manchester City’s tour of the United States and they are yet to win, perhaps not all that surprising when you consider they are missing lots of their players who took part in international tournaments this summer.
For Barcelona, they have had to wait longer to get their warm-ups under way, with this the first match of their pre-season campaign.
They were made to wait longer still when the game was delayed by 80 minutes because of lightning, continuing a theme of the conditions disrupting matches and training sessions for clubs during their pre-season fixtures in the United States.
When the game did get under way, a barely-recognisable, youthful Barca side took the lead through 22-year-old Pau Victor, before 19-year-old Nico O’Reilly equalised for City.
The Spanish side restored their lead when 21-year-old Pablo Torre scored, but Jack Grealish, one of the few seasoned players on the pitch, equalised with his first goal of pre-season.
Barca won a penalty shootout after Kalvin Phillips, who had a good night playing in an unfamiliar centre-back role, and Jacob Wright had their efforts saved by Ander Astralaga.
Sam Lee and Laia Cervello Herrero analyse the main talking points from the game.
Is Grealish on the right track to winning his place back?
Jack Grealish should have a fitness advantage over some of his team-mates in the early weeks of the season (Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images)
This was more like it, that is for sure.
During his press conference on Monday, when Grealish discussed being “heartbroken” by his omission from England’s European Championship squad this summer, he talked about his goals for the season and they were based around staying fit and playing with confidence.
He said he had been doing just that so far this summer and, sincerely, it is good to hear that he believes that after a difficult period in his career, but from the first two matches he did not seem to be displaying the kind of vigour he has done at his very best.
When manager Pep Guardiola was asked about Grealish’s two matches following the game against AC Milan in New York on Saturday, he was happy to give him time to build himself back up. “Step by step,” Guardiola said. “The important thing is getting minutes and after holidays he’s trying. He will get to his best.”
There was another step or two in that direction in Orlando on Tuesday. The 28-year-old had a couple of dribbles that led to shots (of varying quality) but he did grab an emphatic goal for City, slamming the ball into the top corner.
And unlike Erling Haaland, who played 45 minutes in each of the past two matches as per a pre-determined plan, Grealish stayed on for 84 minutes, even as City made a string of substitutions earlier in the second half. He said he has got a headstart on his team-mates, fitness-wise, so he will be one to watch going into the new season.
Sam Lee
What did we learn from Barca’s first friendly?
Barca’s first friendly was also new head coach Hansi Flick’s first test.
The German was appointed at the end of May and has had to wait two months to take charge of a match for the first time. That period has been filled with doubts about how his team would play, but this first outing helped to ease some of those concerns.
The first related to his commitment to young players and it is clear that is firm. Despite coming up against a team of the stature of Manchester City, he opted for youth over more established players like Inigo Martínez and Oriol Romeu, who have trained with him from day one.
Secondly, it was clear the high pressure the team lacked last season is one of the focal points of his training sessions this season. The players were very focused on winning the ball back as quickly as possible after losing it.
It was interesting that Vitor Roque was given game time despite not yet having an allocated squad number and his future remaining uncertain, but despite being the only ‘star’ in the starting team he did not shine in any part of the game.
Lastly, it will have been pleasing for Barca’s hierarchy to see that the many young players who featured in this game did not look out of place. Perhaps this was evidence that youth can be a club’s greatest salvation when financial times are hard and it might not be necessary to spend tens of millions to have a team that can compete with the likes of Manchester City.
Laia Cervello Herrero
Does it matter that Man City haven’t won yet?
No. City fans might not welcome this specific example, but may at least find it amusing. In 2014, Louis van Gaal oversaw a sparkling pre-season as Manchester United manager, winning all six of their matches, including against Real Madrid and Liverpool, and they swept into the post-David Moyes era in style. Then they lost 2-1 to Swansea City at Old Trafford on the opening weekend of the Premier League season.
The moral of the story is that pre-season matches mean almost nothing, and especially so when you have, at most, five of the players who have made big contributions to their trophies in recent years.
For that reason, little should be read into the 4-3 defeat by Celtic or the 3-2 loss to AC Milan that preceded this game.
They might have expected to beat Barcelona, granted, because they are without basically all of their stars, and they have started pre-season later than City, but these games are for fitness and the local fans’ enjoyment.
City did welcome Josko Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic to their tour over the past few days, the only of City’s summer internationals to join the tour late, and both started here.
Gvardiol played in unfamiliar territory — in a City shirt anyway — at centre-back and was caught out for Barca’s first goal, but did brilliantly to set up the first equaliser.
Kovacic was much more consistent, looking a cut above in midfield and producing the move of the match, turning in midfield and driving up the pitch, taking out five or six players to set up Grealish to make it 2-2. It is easier to focus on the positives at this time of year given the negatives do not really matter.
Sam Lee
Which of Barca’s young players impressed?
There were several. Firstly, the defensive pivot duo of Marc Casado and Marc Bernal. They gave balance between defence and attack and when they played together, while one stayed back, the other could go further forward in attack.
Victor played as a centre-forward and that meant Roque moved to the wing. Victor had several chances and was involved in both goals.
Pau Victor, left, celebrates scoring with team-mate Marc Casado (Rich Storry/Getty Images)
For the first, he took advantage of great play by Casado to put Barca in front. For the second goal, he cleverly left Gerard Martín’s pass to enable Torre to score.
Earlier in the game there was a moment where he lost the ball but reacted very quickly to recover, passing it with his heel to Casado, who shot without luck.
Although Victor normally plays as a false 9, he was used further forward in a way that suggests he could be an alternative to Robert Lewandowski when the Pole needs a rest. Lewandowski was acclaimed by the fans when he stepped on the pitch.
Laia Cervello Herrero
What next for Man City?
Saturday, August 3: Chelsea (Ohio), 5.30pm ET, 10.30pm BST
What next for Barcelona?
Saturday, August 3: Real Madrid (New Jersey), 7pm ET, 12pm BST
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(Top photo Chandan Khanna /AFP via Getty Images)
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