The first El Clasico on American soil lived up to the hype Saturday night as Barcelona downed Real Madrid 3-2 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, thanks to a 50th-minute winner from Gerard Pique.
Saturday's finale could have been approached as any old glorified friendly, but both Real Madrid and Barcelona competed like prized hardware was on the line.
The first haymaker came courtesy of Barcelona, who took a 1-0 lead after Lionel Messi shimmied through the Madrid defense and buried a left-footed shot from the middle of the box.
Ivan Rakitic doubled Barcelona's lead just a few minutes later, at which point it looked like a Madrid side that was suiting up sans Cristiano Ronaldo could be in big trouble:
However, Los Blancos maintained their composure and countered with a pair of goals to knot the score at two at halftime.
The first of those tallies came courtesy of Mateo Kovacic, who continued the game's frenetic start with a 14th-minute conversion.
Marco Asensio then drew Madrid even in the 36th minute when he capped off a clinical counterattack with a laser of a left-footed strike that whizzed past goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen.
Barcelona had a response ready, though, when Neymar—who started despite rumors of a looming departure for Paris Saint-Germain, per ESPN FC's Jonathan Johnson—curled a free kick into the box that set up Pique for an easy right-footed tap-in five minutes into the second half.
Madrid threatened throughout the remainder of the final frame, but Cillessen stood tall on several occasions and kept Barcelona's lead intact as its stay in the United States came to a successful close.
Saturday's finale could have been approached as any old glorified friendly, but both Real Madrid and Barcelona competed like prized hardware was on the line.
The first haymaker came courtesy of Barcelona, who took a 1-0 lead after Lionel Messi shimmied through the Madrid defense and buried a left-footed shot from the middle of the box.
Ivan Rakitic doubled Barcelona's lead just a few minutes later, at which point it looked like a Madrid side that was suiting up sans Cristiano Ronaldo could be in big trouble:
However, Los Blancos maintained their composure and countered with a pair of goals to knot the score at two at halftime.
The first of those tallies came courtesy of Mateo Kovacic, who continued the game's frenetic start with a 14th-minute conversion.
Marco Asensio then drew Madrid even in the 36th minute when he capped off a clinical counterattack with a laser of a left-footed strike that whizzed past goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen.
Barcelona had a response ready, though, when Neymar—who started despite rumors of a looming departure for Paris Saint-Germain, per ESPN FC's Jonathan Johnson—curled a free kick into the box that set up Pique for an easy right-footed tap-in five minutes into the second half.
Madrid threatened throughout the remainder of the final frame, but Cillessen stood tall on several occasions and kept Barcelona's lead intact as its stay in the United States came to a successful close.
