EL-CLASICO: Barcelona Defeats Real Madrid In Las Vegas Pre-Season. (WATCH HIGHLIGHTS).

FC Barcelona had the slight edge victory against arch-rivals Real Madrid in the first EL Clasico of the season played in Las Vegas.

It's actually a pre-season game but the importance of this game, especially for two specific teams cannot be overemphasized. 

The match which went down at the early hours of Sunday morning at the 65,000-seat Allegiant Stadium, home of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders, saw new signing Raphinha made it two goals in two matches for the Blaugrana. 

The Brazilian was perfectly placed to intercept a bad pass from Real’s Eder Militao along which he lashed a left-footed shot over Thibaut Courtois into the top right corner of the net to put Barcelona up 1-0 in the 27th minute

Raphinha, signed from Premier League club Leeds United earlier this month for around $60million, continued from where he stopped after scoring a goal in his debut appearance in the 6-0 thrashing of Inter Miami.

Another Marquee signing Robert Lewandowski made his debut by starting against Real Madrid, played the first 45 minutes, and he didn't disappoint.

The Polish striker wore the number 12 shirt, played alongside Raphinha and Ansu Fati in  leading the attack.

Things weren't so friendly as Real Madrid and Barcelona players clashed and tempers boiled Just before the break.

Vinicius Jr. was cynically scythed down by Jordi Alba during a trademark run and it did not go down well with the Brazilian. 

The Real Madrid star and team-mate Rodyrgo got into a tussle with Barca's Sergio Busquets over the tackle, that sparked into a fracas involving a number of players pushing and shoving each other. 

Moments later Madrid's newcomer from Stamford Bridge Antonio Rudiger was also involved in the squabble between the two El Clasico rivals, after some pushing and shoving escalated with players having to step in and separate both players.

The game was the fourth edition of the Clasico to be played outside of Spain, and the second ever held in the United States.

It was the first pre-season friendly for the La Liga champions, who were still without their talisman Karim Benzema. 

His absence was hugely felt, as Carlo Ancelotti's men failed to register a shot on target, despite playing a team that featured former Chelsea man Eden Hazard, Vinicius and Rodrygo. 

Real Madrid would continue their US tour on Tuesday against Mexico’s Cub America at San Francisco’s Oracle Park baseball venue.

On the other hand, the game marked the return of Xavi as he missed the first pre season in the United States of America (USA) against Major League Soccer (MLS) outfit Inter Miami.

Manager Xavi Hernandez spoke to the media after the game and gave his verdict on the performance from Barcelona, saying: “The first half was brilliant, but the second half was complicated.

“We came here to win and we did it. We suffered towards the end of the game but I am still satisfied with today’s match,” he said.

“We were the better team. At Barcelona, there are no friendly matches, We always want to win, especially against Real Madrid,” the Barça legend added.

Barcelona will take on Italian giants Juventus in Dallas on the same night.

WATCH HIGHLIGHTS:

🍿 Barça capture #ElClásico in Las Vegas! pic.twitter.com/2kIYdS8Wy1

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) July 24, 2022