Barca defeat Man City in friendly after penalties to start the Flick era

After a long weather delay and a thunderous 90 minutes, Manchester City suffered a penalty shootout defeat to Barcelona.

Top scorers: Victor 24′, Tower 45+2′; O’Reilly 39′, Grealish 60′

Pep Guardiola’s team dominated possession from the start, threatening with balls behind Erling Haaland throughout the first 15 minutes.

The Blues looked to take the lead when the big striker hit a shot at the far post and the ball seemingly slipped over the line, but without goal line technology or VAR, no goal was scored.

After dodging a bullet, Barça took advantage when a smart team move was capped off by young Pau Victor, who shone throughout the night.

However, the Premier League side responded with an effort of their own, with the impressive Nico O’Reilly finishing from an acute angle to level the score, although the equality did not last long.

Barcelona found their way through City’s leaky defense once again less than 10 minutes later when Pablo Torre fired past a smooth-looking Ederson.

However, City’s star-studded attack would not be denied for much longer as Jack Grealish curled his shot from the edge of the six yard box into the roof of the net.

With the score level at the end of an entertaining 90 minutes, the two European giants went to penalties. Two saves from Ander Astralaga on Kalvin Phillips and Jacob Wright were enough for the Blaugrana to claim victory.