Neymar scored the lone goal in the match between Barcelona and Manchester United. (Source: AP)
Neymar showed why the French football club Paris Saint-Germain want him in their side even if that costs them 222-million euro ($256.8 million). Manchester United were unbeaten throughout the pre-season and it was there last match. Against Barcelona, the Premier League club could have kept a winning record but for Neymar.
The Brazilian striker scored a first half-goal which gave Barcelona a 1-0 win over Manchester United in an International Champions Cup friendly. This was his third goal for Barcelona in the exhibition tournament.
In the 31st minute, Neymar broke through the Manchester Untied defence and took the ball from Antonio Valencia. Inside the penalty area and turned around before finding the back of the net.
Barcelona will begin their new season under new coach Ernesto Valverde and so far, he has two wins from two games in the pre-season. Barcelona beat Juventus 2-1 in the first game.
But, Valverde made sweeping changes to the team that beat Juventus. Barcelona returned to their full strength as the coach brought back Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba, Samuel Umtiti, Nelson Semedo, Sergio Busquets and 19-year-old midfielder Carles Arena.
Despite the line-up, Barcelona weren’t the team that had United under the pump. It was United who threatened first. They had also made changes to the side that beat Real Madrid on penalties on Sunday.
Only three players — Michael Carrick, Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard — were retained from that win. Rashford sent in a cross to Romelu Lukaku in the penalty area, but the Belgian couldn’t find the net.
They made three more threatening attempts at the Barcelona goal. Goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen was tested by Paul Pogba, a long range shot from Lukaku and an effort from Rashford but they could not score.
The big three of Barcelona also tested Manchester United keeper David de Gea but they also did not find the net. Messi hit a shot wide in the 12th minute and later, Neymar took a chance from close range in the 28th minute but De Gea was alert to deny him.
He could not do the same three minutes later though. Valencia interjected a pass from Messi but failed to control which was then reclaimed by Neymar. He sent in a powerful strike past the keeper.
De Gea denied Suarez in the 42nd minute when the striker attempted a scissor-kick. At half-time, Barcelona were ahead 1-0, much to the delight of the Barcelona fans at the FedExField, where NFL side Redskins play. The stadium saw 82, 000 people on Wednesday.
The second half saw lesser activity and even a change in pace. It was more because of the changes made to both sides. While United made five changes in the second half, Barcelona made 10 and only keeper Cillessen was retained.
While both coaches did make the changes, there were no change in the scoreline and Barcelona won 1-0. Now, Barcelona will travel to Miami for their pre-season El Clasico when they face Real Madrid on Saturday. But before that they would like to now the future of Neymar.
United will now move to Europe for their final leg of pre-season. They take on Valerenga in Oslo on Sunday before moving to Ireland where they face Sampdoria. They will once again face Real Madrid in August in the UEFA Super Cup.
