Author: Amrit Santlani
Ahead of the upcoming 2023-24 season, all the top clubs in Europe and Saudi Arabia have started their preparations with pre-season matches in full swing. Many of Europe’s elite have been in action recently and, as is the case with the games of this period, there have already been some surprising results. Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal beat Xavi’s Barcelona 5-3, while Real Madrid condemned Manchester United to a 2-0 defeat. Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr have been very active in pre-season, as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Inter Milan in their last match.
Leandro Trossard scores twice as Arsenal beat Barça 5-3
Arsenal took on familiar rivals Barcelona at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California on Thursday and came away with a morale-boosting win.
Leandro Trossard scored twice, while Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Fabio Viera also scored to help Arsenal win, thus boosting confidence over Barça.
The Blaugrana made their dominance felt early on when Robert Lewandowski scored, as he usually does, in the 7th minute. Fortunately for Arsenal, Saka took advantage of a handball by one of Barcelona’s defenders and equalized the game five minutes later.
Raphinha then scored directly from a free-kick, when the ball deflected off the wall and into Aaron Ramsdale’s goal. Havertz brought Arsenal back to 2-2 with a close-range finish. Trossard then gave Arteta the lead in the second half, before completing his brace shortly afterwards.
Ferran Torres pulled one back for his side, but it was a mere consolation as Viera scored a superb goal to add some gloss to the scoreline.
Joselu scores a wonderful goal as Madrid beat Manchester United 2-0
Real Madrid faced Manchester United at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, on Thursday. Carlo Ancelotti’s side ran out comfortable 2-0 winners thanks to two sublime goals from new signings Jude Bellingham and Joselu.
Bellingham opened the scoring in the sixth minute, taking advantage of a long ball from Antonio Rudiger, which he elegantly dribbled past André Onana to open the scoring.
Vinicius Jr. forced Onana into a good save shortly afterwards, and Jadon Sancho returned the favor with Andry Lunin, who was standing in the madridista goal.
Both goalkeepers stood firm and made several saves to keep the score unchanged.
Two minutes before the end of regulation time, Joselu took advantage of a cross from Lucas Vázquez and scored a stunning bicycle kick to end the game.
Al Nassr and Inter Milan draw 1-1
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr faced Lautaro Martinez’s Inter Milan at the Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan, on Friday, when the two teams shared the scoreline.
Brazilian midfielder Anderson Talisca forced an initial save from Filip Stanković, but the goalkeeper stood firm to keep the score at 0-0. Talisca then set up Abdulrahman Ghareeb with a long-range pass, and the latter fired a shot on goal from close range to level the scores just before half-time.
Lautaro Martinez missed a glorious chance to level the match when he shot wide from close range, and Denzel Dumfries missed another good opportunity.
Davide Frattesi equalized with a header a minute before the end of the first half and, despite the efforts of both teams, the game ended 1-1. Martinez missed a couple of good chances, while Nawaf Alaqidi put in an exceptional performance, stopping almost everything that came his way.