Barca beat Real Madrid in Florida

Gerard Pique scored the winner as Barcelona recorded a 3-2 victory over bitter rivals Real Madrid in Saturday night’s El Clasico at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida.
Both teams scored twice in the opening 45 minutes, but Pique’s close-range finish early in the second period proved enough for Barcelona to shade the entertaining pre-season friendly in the International Champions Cup.
It took Barcelona just three minutes to make the breakthrough, with Messi driving into the Real Madrid box before finding the back of the net courtesy of a big deflection off Raphael Varane, which saw the ball loop over the helpless Keylor Navas.
Barcelona were rampant in the early exchanges, and Ernesto Valverde’s side doubled their lead in the seventh minute when Ivan Rakitic sent a low effort into the bottom corner after meeting a loose ball on the edge of the box.
Real Madrid were back in the match in the 14th minute, however, when Kovacic found a yard of space just outside the Barcelona box after smart work from Casemiro before arrowing the ball into the far corner of the net.
Benzema then came within a few inches of levelling in the 20th minute when the Frenchman drove to the edge of the area before releasing a powerful strike, only to see the ball move the wrong side of the post.
Real Madrid were always a threat on the counter-attack, however, and Zidane’s team levelled the scores via that avenue in the 36th minute when Asensio found the bottom corner from inside the Barcelona box after collecting an incisive pass from Kovacic.
The tempo remained high at the start of the second period, and Barcelona regained the lead in the 50th minute when Pique turned a clever Neymar free kick past Navas from inside the six-yard box.
Both teams had bright moments in the latter stages as a number of youngsters looked to impress, but 3-2 was how it finished on the night as Barcelona won the first ever El Clasico in North America.
Next up for Real Madrid is a clash with MLS All-Stars on Wednesday as their pre-season tour of the United States comes to a close, while Barcelona will now return to Spain as they prepare to face Brazilian outfit Chapecoense in the Joan Gamper Trophy on August 7.