The friendly between Barcelona and Real Madrid on Saturday evening was anything but as the old rivals came to blows in Las Vegas.
Xavi's side won the El Clasico 1-0 thanks to a stunning first-half strike from former Leeds winger Raphinha. It was Barcelona's second consecutive pre-season victory after a thumping 6-0 win against David Beckham's Inter Miami a few days earlier.
Raphinha, who completed his move to the Camp Nou earlier this summer, didn't waste his opportunity to impress against Real. He took one touch to control a hopeful pass from out wide before unleashing a wicked left-footed effort past Thibaut Courtois.
Raphinha's goal should've dominated the headlines, yet the main talking point came later in the first half. The two teams clashed when Vinicius Jr was cynically brought down by Jordi Alba, resulting in a yellow card for the experienced Spain international.
The two sets of players started protesting with the referee and Rodrygo was clearly unimpressed with something Barcelona skipper Sergio Busquets said. The Real forward pushed his opponent, which triggered a reaction from Busquets and teammate Gavi.
Both sets of players then started pushing each other with as new Real signing Antonio Rudiger clashed with Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo. The row soon calmed down and the referee did not believe it was necessary to punish those involved.
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It was an intriguing evening for both sets of supporters in Las Vegas. Wearing the No.12, Robert Lewandowski made his Barcelona debut. Xavi deployed a full-strength team in Nevada with Manchester United target Frenkie de Jong coming off the bench.
Eden Hazard started the game for Real as he looks to finally make an impression in La Liga this season. The Belgium international joined the Spanish giants from Chelsea three years ago but has scored just four league goals since due to a troubling injury record.
"In general, we're happy," said Barcelona manager Xavi at full-time. "The least important thing is the win, even if, as Barcelona fans, we really like to beat Real Madrid. The first half was excellent, the second half not so good. But, we are in pre-season.
"We are training well and today we saw a good Barcelona. I think we were better than Real Madrid and we played good football. We enjoyed ourselves on the pitch and played well. The main objective is to win titles. That's important for us."
Carlo Ancelotti, meanwhile, is confident Real can be competitive again this season. The European champions won three trophies last season, including the La Liga title. "I think we have a better squad now than the one we had last year," said Ancelotti at full-time.
"In training, you can see that there is even more intensity. I think there was a lot of intensity in this match, especially in the first half, and I thought it was an even game. I tried to spread out the minutes among the players. I wanted to play some younger players. Overall, I liked this performance against a strong opponent."
