IN SPORT.ES
Barcelona beat Juventus on Saturday in their first game of their tour in the United States. It was a typical pre-season game, but the star of the show was clear. After being the centre of attention all week due to links to Paris Saint-Germain, Neymar played brilliantly and scored two goals. His second, in particular, brought everyone to their feet. At half time he was taken off, angry with the referee due to the fouls from Sturaro, Lichtsteiner and Marchisio.
The MetLife Stadium was full to see Ernesto Valverde's new Barça -- almost three quarters of the stadium were Cules. They saw a recognisable Barça, as Valverde has said. A 4-3-3.
Despite the slow pitch, Barça were quick. Neymar caused problems in the opening 10 minutes and opened the scoring after 15, following a neat one-two with Paco Alcacer. His second came 10 minutes later, collecting a Lionel Messi pass, beating four Juventus defenders and then firing past Gianluigi Buffon.
Juve opted to bring on their more experienced players after the break, while Valverde himself made 11 changes at half time, Neymar and Messi off, but Suarez on. The Italians improved and Adrian Ortola's smart save from Paulo Dybala was followed by a thumping header from Giorgio Chiellini.
Both teams had chances to score more. Denis Suarez missed two, Gonzalo Higuain missed one and Carles Alena came close. But there were no more goals and it was left to be that Neymar was the star of the show. Talked about off the pitch, talked about on it.
Next up for Barça is Manchester United. They take on Jose Mourinho's side in Washington on Wednesday.