Barcelona defeated fellow European heavyweights Manchester United on penalties after a 0-0 draw in a pre-season friendly in Gothenburg.
Shoot-out success for Barcelona in Gothenburg
Barcelona defeated fellow European heavyweights Manchester United on penalties after a 0-0 draw in a pre-season friendly in Gothenburg.
Nani and Ashley Young, who did not convert for England at Euro 2012, both failed in the shoot-out, which was limited to just three penalties for each team, meaning Xavi and former United player Gerard Pique gave Barcelona the win.
Wayne Rooney had seen a penalty saved by Victor Valdes in the first half but Tito Vilanova's Barca, who gave summer signing Jordi Alba a second-half debut, had dominated.
Sir Alex Ferguson will be reasonably pleased with the workout, although after watching his side fire a blank in Norway on Saturday, maybe the deal for Robin van Persie cannot come soon enough.
With Lucas Moura's move to PSG being confirmed and speculation intensifying that Van Persie was about to agree a deal with the Old Trafford outfit, it was a busy enough day at United.
Compared to that, the opening stages were drab, certainly for a Red Devils outfit who were outplayed for long periods by a Barca team who have beaten them in two of the past four UEFA Champions League finals.
As ever, Lionel Messi was behind so many of the Catalans' best moves.
The brilliant Argentina star only just failed to get on the end of Andres Iniesta's delicate early pass beyond the Red Devils defence and he was marginally offside when David de Gea blocked a close-range effort.
Precise
It was soon apparent though that with Antonio Valencia again asked to occupy a full-back berth, Cristian Tello would find plenty of room down the flank.
Messi rolled one pass which the 20-year-old screwed wide and Iniesta set up another chance that he drilled into Rio Ferdinand.
Amidst this, Paul Scholes picked up a yellow card for a lunge on Sergio Busquets that sent the midfielder sprawling.
It was not particularly impressive from Ferguson's men, although they did almost profit when Victor Valdes got his angles all wrong attempt to clear an Young corner and almost turned the ball into his own net.
The drama came in the final minute of the half though, when Tello slid into Nani to concede a needless penalty.
Rooney expected to bury it. Instead Valdes palmed the shot away, and Rooney inexplicably sent the rebound wide with a mis-hit left-footed effort.
Amongst the mass of half-time replacements were Shinji Kagawa and Jose Manuel Pinto.
Retaliation
And the United new-boy and Barcelona reserve goalkeeper were soon in direct opposition, with Pinto coming out on top each time.
The first was a precise shot for the corner, which Pinto did well to reach.
The second was more speculative, from a ridiculously acute angle, with would have beaten Pinto had he not been alive to the danger.
Barca's enormous strength in depth was soon in evidence though as Euro 2012 winners Cesc Fabregas and Xavi began to exert their influence.
Alexis Sanchez was denied by De Gea, who then produced a brilliant save to keep out Pedro's stooping header.
It may have been a friendly but Ferguson was off his bench to complain when Busquets pulled Nani back as the winger was about to break clear. As Nani lashed out in retaliation, both men were cautioned.
The introduction of Nick Powell was another reminder of how far the 18-year-old has come since leaving Crewe at the end of last season.
A three-shot shoot-out had already been planned in the event of a draw. In the end, only two were required.
