Neymar scored twice as Barcelona took revenge for their Champions League defeat last season, beating Juventus 2-1 in the International Champions Cup.
On a hot and humid Saturday evening in New Jersey, Juve and Barca squared off in the 82,500-capacity MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford for International Champions Cup action.
Neymar scored twice as Barcelona took revenge for their Champions League defeat last season, beating Juventus 2-1 in the International Champions Cup.
On a hot and humid Saturday evening in New Jersey, Juve and Barca squared off in the 82,500-capacity MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford for International Champions Cup action.
Bianconeri Coach Massimiliano Allegri fielded a blend of regular starters and bench players in his 4-2-3-1 formation, while new Blaugrana boss Ernesto Valverde began his reign with the opportunity of identifying who he should factor into his plans moving forward.
Barca opened the match by launching a quick counterattack from their own end. Neymar sprinted down the left flank and found Lionel Messi at the back post, but the No 10 missed the target.
The Blaugrana continued attacking at will but failed to make their early dominance count. Juve did finally forge an opportunity through Mario Mandzukic, but the Croat failed to test Cillessen with his close-range header.
The Catalans controlled most of the opening segments, with Neymar enjoying heaps of space out on the left, often switching between flanks, and it was only a matter of time before they opened the scoring.
Sure enough, it was the man of the hour; the talk of the transfer window who was there to do it as the Brazilian finished off a neat combination with Paco Alcacer in the penalty area. Shortly after play resumed, Mario Lemina had a go for goal with his left foot but again brought not the slightest concern to Cillessen’s net.
Ten minutes later, Neymar was at it again, tormenting Juve’s centre-back pairing, weaving his way around Medhi Benatia and Andrea Barzgali, before depositing his shot into the bottom-left corner of Gianluigi Buffon’s net.
Juve left too much space between the lines, and Barca took full advantage of every blade of grass exposed. Luckily for the Bianconeri’s sake and the scoreline, Buffon denied Neymar a first-half hat-trick.
Allegri and Valverde utilised their benches for the second half by making plenty of substitutions. New Juve signing Mattia De Sciglio came on for his Old Lady debut, and following him shortly after was Douglas Costa, who took to the pitch for the first time as a Bianconero.
Allegri’s changes made the difference in the opening quarter of the restart as Paulo Dybala swung in a perfect corner for Chiellini, who rose above his marker to pull one back.
In the final 15 minutes of play in New Jersey, both sides exchanged dangerous chances at goal. Wojciech Szczesny bailed out the Juve defence on several occasions, keeping his team in the game until the final whistle.
Juventus 1-2 Barcelona
Chiellini 63 (J) Neymar 15, 26 (B)
Juventus (first half): Buffon; Lichtsteiner, Benatia, Barzagli, Asamoah; Khedira, Marchisio; Sturaro, Lemina, Bentancur; Mandzukic
Juventus (second half): Szczesny; De Sciglio, Chiellini, Mandragora, Alex Sandro; Rincon, Pjanic; Cuadrado, Dybala, Costa; Higuain
Barcelona (first half): Cillessen; Vidal, Pique, Mascherano, Digne; Rakitic, Samper, Iniesta; Messi, Alcacer, Neymar
Barcelona (second half): Ortola; Semedo, Marlon, Umtiti, Alba; Sergi Roberto, Busquets, Alena; Arda, Suarez, Denis
Referee: Jurisevic (USA)
Words: Matthew Santangelo