Barça beat Real Madrid in the farewell match of the American tour, thanks to goals from Leo Messi, Ivan Rakitic and Gerard Piqué (2-3). The Classic of Miami could be the last match of Neymar Jr in the Barça shirt.
Thrilling start
Ernesto Valverde did not want to save anything in his first high test on the Barça bench. A Classic is not a friendly. The coach put out a starting eleven that could face such a match during the season. And he did it with Neymar stuck on the left side. Even though his farewell seems closer than ever, the Brazilian accompanied Leo Messi and Luis Suárez in attacking the goal.
The match, presented like a Super Bowl show, with fireworks and the lights of the Hard Rock Stadium turned off, began with a very tight Barça. They took an opportunity in the first few minutes to stun Madrid. Leo Messi, in an individual play, and Ivan Rakitic, with a shot from the front of the area, made the two first goals after only seven minutes of play (0-2).
Barça kept the high pressure they'd shown in the first two matches and kept Zidane's team in their own half. Madrid found it very difficult to control the ball and were in danger of being unable to react. The absence of midfield play caused the match to be played within the areas, but eventually Madrid recovered.
Mateo Kovacic hunted a ball in the front of the Barça area to make it 1-2, without pressure, with a shot stuck beside the post. Impossible to stop for Jasper Cillessen. A goal that would be difficult to imagine in a different scenario out of preseason, due to the passiveness of some Barça players. The trident followed their own, however, with Neymar making war on his own. The Brazilian was enjoying himself and became a headache for his marker, Dani Carvajal.
From a corner from Barça, Madrid's equaliser arrived. The focus of Rakitic saw the start of a very badly defended counter-attack. Marco Asensio combined with Kovacic to take advantage of a pass into free space, and then a mistake from Jordi Alba in the marking made it 2-2. Zidane's team tied the game just before the break.
Preseason match
Valverde only made one halftime change: Sergi Roberto replaced Andrés Iniesta. In a rehearsed play, Barça eventually recovered the lead. Neymar delivered from a foul on the wing so that Piqué, coming in from the back, made it 2-3.
This new Barça has demonstrated in preseason that it dominates the ball in play, and that the offensive strategy is working. As the minutes passed, the intensity decreased and the changes followed.
The final stretch served to confirm the good moment of Cillessen, decisive in the victory, and to see details of Denis Suárez, who acted as the extreme right in Messi's place. The 2-3 result is the third win in the three games of Barça's tour. A result that gives the first International Champions Cup to the club.
The team leaves the United States after eleven days and does so with the future of Neymar still to be resolved, a matter that his teammates are asking to end once and for all.