FC Barcelona 3-0 Real Madrid: Delight in Dallas
After Miami and Las Vegas we can now add the name of Dallas to the list as Barça took their third consecutive Clásico victory in the USA thanks to a 3-0 victory over Real Madrid. Excellent strikes from Ousmane Dembélé, Fermín López and Ferran Torres handed the blaugranes victory after a tight contest that was only decided in the final minutes. Fermín played a part in Barça second and third goals, scoring one himself and creating the third for his fellow second half substitute Ferran Torres.
The AT&T Stadium saw a record attendance at the ground for a club football game with some 82,026 fans witnessing Barça's win.
Training ground move
The game in Dallas sprung into action early with Oriol Romeu thumping a volley off the crossbar as early as the third minute. Real Madrid reacted by making life difficult for Barça to bring the ball out and Rodrygo went close for Carlo Ancelotti's team.
Barça began to find space and on the quarter of an hour mark, Pedri found Dembélé in space on the right hand side of the box following a training ground move and the Frenchman fired the blaugranes in front with a low shot into the corner.
Typical Clásico
A game between Barça and Real Madrid is always competitive, even in preseason. The blaugranes had the run of the green in the first half when Vinicius rattled a penalty against the crossbar following a handball by Araujo.
The opening 45 minutes passed in a whirlwind with yellow cards flying around and Barça forced into changes due to injuries to Christensen and Gündogan.
Dembéle could have made 2-0 only for Courtois to make an excellent and Madrid went close again with Tchouaméni hitting the bar.
Pace drops
Barça came out without making changes for the second half as the frenetic pace of the opening 45 minutes dropped after half time as one would expect in preseason. Changes did come for both sides with Xavi bringing on Raphinha and Fermín not long after the hour mark. Five more changes came with less than a quarter of an hour to go with Dest, Marcos Alonso, Ferran, Abde and Ansu.
Fermín steps in
With Real Madrid pressuring for an equaliser, Barça Atlètic midfielder Fermín López took centre stage. Wearing the number 29 shirt, he fired home an unstoppable left footed shot with five minutes after excellent pressure from Barça had won the ball back in the Real Madrid half.
Not content with scoring, the youngster set up a third for Ferran injury time. Fermín lifted a perfect through ball for the striker to then lob keeper Courtois and finish from close range to round off a fourth win in five against Real Madrid in 2023 - Clásico delight in Dallas.