Barcelona have struck first at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas, taking an early lead in their pre-season Clasico encounter against Real Madrid.
Both Xavi Hernandez and Carlo Ancelotti named strong sides for the match, and among those to start for Barcelona was Oriol Romeu, making his El Clasico debut. He came agonisingly close to scoring early on.
Luckily for Barcelona, they didn’t have to wait too long to open the scoring. A well-worked free-kick from Ilkay Gundogan and Pedri allowed Ousmane Dembele space to fire beyond Thibaut Courtois, which gave Xavi’s side the opening goal.
اعادات هدف ديمبوز 🔥🔥
برشلونة 1-0 ريال مدريد #ElClasico 🔴🔵 pic.twitter.com/xDzY26KjTY
— FCB World (@forcabarca_ar) July 29, 2023
Real Madrid did almost equalise immediately after Dembele’s goal as they were awarded a penalty for a handball in the box. However, Vinicius Junior’s effort struck the crossbar and went out of play, meaning that the score stayed at 1-0.
اوبس 😬 pic.twitter.com/3GX5NAujAN
— FCB World (@forcabarca_ar) July 29, 2023
Barcelona have made an excellent start to the match, as they will hope that they can hang on to ensure the first victory of their pre-season schedule.
