Barcelona wrapped up its preseason tour of the United States with a 1-0 win over AC Milan in Las Vegas before the beginning of the LaLiga campaign.
2023 Club Friendlies
0-1
Match Report
The Spanish giants dominated their Italian rivals in a preseason friendly in Sin City before looking to defend their LaLiga title next week.
Raphinha and EZ Abde gave Xavi's side an attacking edge in the first half but it was Ansu Fati, who was introduced after the break, who finally broke the deadlock.
The 20-year-old, along with Alejandro Balde came on in the second half, and terrorized AC Milan on the right flank, with the duo combining in the 55th minute to find the back of the net.
Balde charged forward and laid off the ball to Fati just inside the box, who cut inside with the outside of his foot.
From the edge of the box, Fati let rip a screamer of a goal into the top corner, leaving Mike Maignan with no hope of making the save.
Fati immediately ran over to Ousmane Dembele on the sidelines to celebrate the goal.
Dembele, who wasn't used in the game, stood watching with his hood up amid links to Paris Saint-Germain.
Dembele had reportedly rejected Barcelona's latest contract offer, with the 26-year-old keen for a fresh start after six seasons at the Nou Camp.
The French side reportedly beat the clock to trigger his £43m release clause on Monday and has until Sunday to complete the deal, according to L'Equipe.
The Blaugrana will now travel back to Spain where they will face Tottenham for the Joan Gamper Trophy on August 11 in their final preseason game before kickstarting their title defense against Getafe on August 13.
Meanwhile, USA star and new Milan signing Christian Pulisic failed to taste victory on home soil with the Rossoneri, who lost to Real Madrid and drew to Juventus while Stateside this summer.
Match Events
0' The match is about to start!
8' Yellow Card! Alonso booked
9' Araujo's header stopped
12' Kounde's shot hits the bar
18' CLOSE! Reijnders' shot stopped
21' Raphinha's long shot stopped
29' Yellow Card! Loftus-Cheek booked
43' Leao's shot stopped
50' Leao's shot over the bar
55' GOAL! Milan 0-1 Barcelona (Fati)
63' Romeu's header wide out
67' OFFSIDE! Araujo's goal disallowed
77' Yamal's shot wide out
Line-ups
Milan XI: Giroud, Florenzi, Maignan, Loftus-Cheek, Krunic, Tomori, Theo, Pulisic, Tijjani Reijnders, Leao, Malick Thiaw
Subs: Kjaer, Mirante, Sportiello, Tommaso Pobega, Yacine Adli, Alexis Saelemaekers, Lorenzo Colombo, De Ketelaere, Kalulu, Luka Romero, Chaka Traorè, Jan-Carlo Simic, Davide Bartesaghi, Kevin Zeroli
Barcelona XI: Romeu, Alonso, Pena, Ferran Torres, Raphinha, Kounde, Ronald Araújo, Eric Garcia, Pedri, Abde Ezzalzouli, Fermín López
Subs: Lewandowski, Gundogan, Ter Stegen, Roberto, I. Martinez, Christensen, Lenglet, Kessie, Dembele, De Jong, Dest, Fati, Mikayil Faye, Álex Baldé, Marc Casadó, Aleix Garrido, Gavi, Álex Valle, Ander Astralaga, Lamine Yamal