Manchester City faced a penalty shootout defeat against Barcelona in a pre-season friendly, which was delayed by 80 minutes due to a storm in Orlando, USA.
The enthusiastic crowd of 63,237 spectators had to seek refuge under the stands at the Camping World Stadium before the match finally kicked off.
While both teams were missing some key players, City featured Erling Haaland, the top Premier League scorer for the 2023-24 season with 27 goals, alongside Jack Grealish, who scored for Pep Guardiola’s side after not being included in England’s Euro 2024 squad.
Pau Victor opened the scoring for Barcelona, but 19-year-old English youth midfielder Nico O’Reilly equalised. Grealish then fired into the top corner after Pablo Torre had given Barcelona the lead once more.
The match culminated in a penalty shootout, where Barcelona secured a 4-1 victory after Kalvin Phillips and Jacob Wright had their spot-kicks saved.
Despite yet to secure a win in pre-season, Guardiola chose to highlight the positives, expressing satisfaction with Grealish’s “aggressive” display.
“I know he’s good at controlling the ball, but he had four or five attempts on goal,” commented the City manager.
“He needs to keep proving himself, but I am really pleased with his performance today.”
City’s last match of their USA tour is set against Chelsea in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday (22:30 BST). They will then compete against Manchester United in the Community Shield at Wembley on 10 August (15:00).
