Sunday 24 / November / 2024
Texas : Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 3-0 at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas, in the season's first El Classico on Sunday.
Ousmane Dembele, Fermin Lopez Martin and Ferran Torres were on the score sheet for Barcelona. The match created history as it drew the largest crowd for an El Clasico in the United States. It was also the highest club soccer match attendance in AT&T Stadium history.
Derby clashes between Barca and the Los Blancos are locally termed 'El Clasico'. However, this was more a friendly as both clubs are currently on pre-season tours.
However, as the history between the Spanish giants would bear witness, any match involving these two clubs can never go down as a friendly.
In this match, a total of 27 fouls were conceded and seven yellow cards were shown to players. Three to Barcelona and four to Real Madrid.
In the first half, Barcelona started off well with attacking forays into the rival half.
Real Madrid was slow to get into their strides in the initial stages of the match.
In the 15th minute of the match, Barcelona were awarded a free-kick which they took in the smartest way possible. Ilkay Gundagon went on to take the free-kick, and he passed the ball to Pedri who was just outside the 18-year-box, Pedri sent a through ball to Dembele and he smashed the ball past Real Madrid's goalkeeper.
This move by Barca looked like a training ground routine which was brought straight into the match.
Real Madrid was awarded a penalty kick in the first half. Vinicius Junior had a chance to level the score but missed the penalty. His shot hit the crossbar and the ball went out of play.
The first half ended with Barcelona leading 1-0.
In the second half, Real Madrid kept the pressure only on Barcelona as they kept taking on shots at the goal.
Barcelona were, however, lucky as Real Madrid's four attempts on goal struck the crossbar.
Real were piling on the pressure and came ever closer to getting a goal back.
However, a defensive mistake allowed Barcelona's Fermin Lopez Martin to score a second.
In the 85th minute of the match, Martin scored with a stunning left-footer from outside of the 18-yard box.
Barcelona's third goal in the additional time came as the icing on the cake.
In the 90+1 minute, Ferran Torres scored Barca's third of the night.
Barcelona took 12 shots at the Real goal, of which seven were on target. Their possession on the ball during the game was 47 per cent. They completed 458 passes with an accuracy of 86 per cent.
Barcelona conceded 17 fouls and received three yellow cards.
Conversely, Real Madrid took 29 shots at goal of which only 5 were on target. They had 53 per cent possession of the ball. They completed 498 passes with an accuracy of 88 per cent.
Real Madrid conceded 10 fouls and received four yellow cards during the match.
Barcelona will be playing their next pre-season fixture on Wednesday agaisnt AC Milan while Real Madrid will be facing Juventus on Thursday for their last pre-season match.
