Manchester City and Barcelona played out a thrilling 2-2 draw in a pre-season friendly at Orlando's Camping World Stadium on Tuesday, following a weather-related delay of over an hour. The match was City's second of their US tour, following a 4-3 defeat to Celtic in which the kick-off was also delayed due to poor weather.
Erling Haaland almost gave City an early lead, but his effort from Oscar Bobb's cross, which looked to have crossed the line, was not given by the officials. Instead, it was Barcelona who opened the scoring through Pau Victor. The young Spaniard, under pressure from Kalvin Phillips, slotted home after a clever flick from Marc Casadó.
City equalised through 19-year-old Nico O'Reilly, but Barcelona regained the lead just before half-time when Victor cleverly let the ball run for Pablo Torre to score. Both teams made changes at the break, with Pep Guardiola withdrawing Haaland and Ederson, and City drew level again shortly after the restart thanks to a brilliant run from Mateo Kovacic, which culminated in a finish by Jack Grealish.
The match finished 2-2, and in a subsequent penalty shootout, Barcelona emerged victorious after a 4-1 win. Phillips was among the City players to miss from the spot.
City's next pre-season fixture is against Chelsea in Ohio on Saturday, while Barcelona face La Liga rivals Real Madrid in New Jersey. The two teams' entertaining clash in Orlando provided a tantalising glimpse of the exciting talent on display in both squads, setting the stage for their upcoming competitive seasons.