Barcelona defeated fierce rivals Real Madrid 2-1 in New York on Saturday night to win the first El Clasico of the season. Pau Victor scored twice for the winners.

After Barcelona’s earlier-week victory over Premier League champion Manchester City on penalties, it was another significant preseason triumph for Hansi Flick.

An hour-long delay was imposed on the game, which was being played in front of a sold-out crowd at MetLife Stadium in New York, due to a ferocious storm. As the game went on, Barcelona demonstrated to Real why they would not be dominating La Liga this next season.

Mail Sport has selected five key takeaways from the match.

Barcelona defeated rival Real Madrid 2-1 in New York to win the first El Clasico of the season.

Once more, prolific Pau delivers

In La Liga the previous season, Barcelona scored six less goals than Girona and eight fewer than Real Madrid.

More strength is required if Barcelona wants to win the title again this season because Robert Lewandowski is approaching the end of his playing days.

Pau Victor, please step forward.

Although the 22-year-old is not a wonderkid, he has been deadly in the preseason, and this brace proved to be the difference. In that victory over Manchester City, he also scored.

He is ready for more first-team involvement now that he has spent time on loan with both Sabadell and Barcelona’s B squad over the past two seasons, and he might be a potent new weapon for Flick. 

Pau Victor continued to show Hansi Flick how valuable he was by scoring two goals for Barcelona.

Endrick requires time.

This was a fantastic opportunity for Endrick to demonstrate his abilities in high-pressure situations, since Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr., Rodrygo, and Jude Bellingham are anticipated to start most of the attacking games in the upcoming season.

Unfortunately, the 18-year-old did not accomplish anything noteworthy and appeared to be a little intimidated by the event.

It must be acknowledged that he has only recently teamed up with his new colleagues, thus relationships are still being made on the pitch. For instance, a chance to go ahead that was lost due to a poorly timed run in the first half.

In the first forty-five minutes of the match, he also missed a shot that should have been on target. Then, when Real Madrid looked to score, he disappeared from the game.

Although many previous Real players would attest, you don’t get much time to settle in at the Bernabeu, therefore it wouldn’t be fair to place too high expectations on him for the upcoming campaign. 

Endrick led the way from the beginning on his own, but the Brazilian found it difficult to influence the match.

He’s the real deal, Flick

Barcelona has had a very bad run of coaches since Ernesto Valverde left in 2020, having won two La Liga titles and one Copa del Rey.

Quique Setien and Ronald Koeman believed that the task was too enormous for them, and even though Xavi won La Liga, his inexperience eventually showed as issues off the pitch took precedence over on-field issues.

However, they now have a coach at Bayern Munich with a track record of accomplishment in Flick, and he has a clear idea of the kind of play he wants his team to play.

His team dominated the game for the most part, and it was evident how they built up with the ball and how they pressed without it.

Bayern is also well known for their political boardroom disputes. They might have hit gold in the dugout if Flick can handle those at Barcelona. 

Endrick led the way from the beginning on his own, but the Brazilian found it difficult to influence the match.

He’s the real deal, Flick

Barcelona has had a very bad run of coaches since Ernesto Valverde left in 2020, having won two La Liga titles and one Copa del Rey.

Quique Setien and Ronald Koeman believed that the task was too enormous for them, and even though Xavi won La Liga, his inexperience eventually showed as issues off the pitch took precedence over on-field issues.

However, they now have a coach at Bayern Munich with a track record of accomplishment in Flick, and he has a clear idea of the kind of play he wants his team to play.

His team dominated the game for the most part, and it was evident how they built up with the ball and how they pressed without it.

Bayern is also well known for their political boardroom disputes. They might have hit gold in the dugout if Flick can handle those at Barcelona. 

Vinicius Jr had an immediate impact on the game for Real Madrid and his quality stood out 

 

World Cup warning

MetLife Stadium will host the 2026 World Cup final but tonight we saw a genuine problem with hosting a major tournament in the US in summer.

After just 12 minutes the game was suspended for an hour because of stormy conditions overhead that brought torrential rain and lightning.

Similarly, down in Fort Lauderdale in Florida, Saturday night’s friendly between Premier League side Wolves and Germany’s RB Leipzig was hit with torrential rain.

Clouds gathered over MetLife Stadium before played was paused for an hour due to a storm

Obviously FIFA can’t predict and plan for adverse weather but the advice for fans was a little confusing here tonight.

They were first told to shelter in the concourse while the storm was above. But then they were allowed to return to their seats – and the players to the pitch – while the storm was still raging.

If you’re coming to America in 2026, the advice seems pretty clear: bring your ponchos because it could be a soaking wet World Cup.