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Manchester United on top 3-1 as Barcelona friendly lives up to its billing

By on July 25, 2015

The San Francisco Bay Area not only got a taste of Manchester United; they got the entire Red Devils experience, hosting two United matches and a week’s worth of training sessions. Even club legend Sir Alex Ferguson came out to the Bay Area for the friendlies. In the context of a friendly, the 68,000 fans packed at Levi’s Stadium to witness United’s 3-1 International Champions Cup win over Barcelona saw the best that United could offer. Van Gaal put out a trial staring eleven for next season, which notably featured David de Gea returning from injury.

Van Gaal substituted his entire team in the sixty-second minute, but was impressed with the second eleven as well. “I was very happy with the reaction of the youngsters because they were more aggressive,” the Dutch manager said. “They were defending more, going forwards and…it was a team with the spirit. We created chances and we scored two goals with the youngsters so I am very happy.”

Particularly, Van Gaal was impressed with Adnan Januzaj. United’s manager told Football Every Day: “I think that Adnan Januzaj was very good because he always gives an option for his midfielders and defenders. He scored a wonderful goal and I think that is always important. He had to fight with two defenders and he did well. But it was more easy for him against the defense without [Gerard] Pique.”

However, Van Gaal might have been pondering as much about who wasn’t in the Bay Area than his squad as who was. The club hasn’t denied rumors of Angel di Maria’s potential move to Paris Saint Germain and the Argentina international failed to board a plane to join United’s preseason in the morning.

The match lived up to its billing. Four goals marked the ninety minutes and there was an intense, high-paced opening. Luis Suarez curled a beautiful twenty-yard free-kick off of the inside of the bottom-tight hand post and in the fifth minute, Rafinha slipped Sergi Roberto through on goal down the right wing; however, David de Gea was quick off his line to kick Roberto’s low effort wide. To top off the brilliant opening, Wayne Rooney got behind his marker to head Ashley Young’s far post corner past Marc Andre der Stegen.

Roberto saw a twenty-yard volley bobble wide of the post in the fourteenth minute but United were surprisingly strong as the match settled in. Barca manager Luis Enrique criticized the dry field, which was laid over the turf for the match, and was plagued with dirt and dust.

Ter Stegen only just managed to tip Ashley Young’s fifteen-yard curler over with a fantastic reaction save twenty-seven minutes in, as United threatened Barca repeatedly on the break. Young and Luke Shaw worked particularly well together down the left wing and were equally impressive in United’s midweek 3-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes.

However, United’s backline of Phil Jones and Daley Blind were subject to the torment of marking Suarez. Towards the end of the first half Suarez curled a beautiful effort off the post from twenty-five yards and Barca began to wrestle their way into control In the forty-third minute, De Gea got behind Suarez’s poked effort from a low cross.

On the other side of the half, Depay tested substitute goalkeeper Jordi Masip in the fiftieth minute after Rooney’s dummy set the Dutchman in down the right side of the box. Van Gaal commented that he was impressed with Rooney’s link up play with Depay: “They try to do their utmost best to look for each other and sometimes I think too much. It should be better when we have a wider orientation, but…I think Barcelona could not cope with the threat of Depay and Rooney.”

Then came United’s mass change and just three minutes later, Tyler Blackett combined with James Wilson down the left and cut a low cross to the far post, where Jesse Lingard was there to finish.

Barcelona responded and came close multiple times in the second half, with Munir El Haddadi finding the post with a glancing header in the seventy-first minute. The match was always tight, indeed, Barcelona finished with the majority of possession, but the Spanish champions couldn’t finish. Finally, in the dying moments of the match Rafinha pulled one back with a brilliant sliced volley from the edge of the area only for Januzaj put the match to bed with an almost immediate response.

Despite hitting the post three times, Enrique didn’t bemoan his side’s luck after the match. “Hitting the post is part of the game. Today we have not been as clinical as usual,” the Spaniard said after the game.

Man of the Match: Wayne Rooney

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.