It may have only been a pre-season friendly, but last night's El Clasico in Miami still produced the goods as if it were a competitive game in La Liga.
Barcelona ran out 3-2 winners in Florida thanks to goals from Lionel Messi, Ivan Rakitic and Gerard Pique, clinching the International Champions Cup in the process.
Despite their loss, Real can take heart from the fact that the scoreline could have been much more one sided, with Barca storming into a 2-0 lead within seven minutes.
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The Spanish and European champions responded well, though drawing themselves level before the interval thanks to Mateo Kovacic and and a stunning counter attack effort from Marco Asensio.
And while Zinedine Zidane's men would eventually succumb to a Gerard Pique winner, Los Blancos still had plenty to applaud, most notably Kovacic's skills, which were given a standing ovation by Marcelo, mid-match.
Credit: ESPN
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The Croatian midfielder pulled Real back into the game with a fantastic strike in the 13th minute, putting Gerard Pique on his arse before drilling an effort past Jasper Cillessen from 20 yards out.
In the second half, the former Inter Milan man really started to enjoying himself and dished out a backheel that his manager would have been proud of, bewildering a couple of Barca players and drawing a round of applause from Marcelo in the process.
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Although the Croatian's efforts couldn't spur Real onto victory, he may still have done enough to impress Zinedine Zidane into starting him on a more regular basis, next season. Although with Luka Modric and Toni Kroos for competition, maybe not.
Featured Image Credit: Premier Live HDTopics: Football, El Clasico, Barcelona, Mateo Kovacic, Real Madrid
