Having had the benefit of watching Barcelona play in Málaga in 2009, getting to a preseason fixture like this is something of luxury. Nevertheless, for those of us European soccer fans in the United States, the opportunity to watch your team play only comes along every so often, and I feel very fortunate to have had this opportunity.
In all honesty, the match was a little bit lackluster. The temperature in DC was brutally hot, and it being early in the season, especially for the Barcelona players (who started two weeks after the United players), the players looked a little bit tired at times. Nani was quite lively for United, scoring the first goal from what appeared to be an offside position, although admittedly I haven't seen any replays. When I asked the 10-year-old Spanish-speaking kid next to me wearing a Barcelona jersey if Nani was indeed offside, he rolled his eyes as if to say "you're wearing a Barcelona jersey too, of course he was offside," as he responded with an enthusiastic "Sí!"
For Barcelona, Thiago looked to be the best player on the pitch. Admittedly, Barcelona were without a number of their best players, with Mascherano, Alves, and Messi all still resting after Copa América, and Puyol, Piqué, and Xavi not dressed for the match. Iniesta looked good, and he ran the Barcelona offense quite well. His direction was evident even to my relatively soccer-ignorant father, who noted that United didn't have a single player bossing the attack the way Barcelona did. Thiago was livelier than Iniesta, however, and it was fitting that he got the equalizer - a lovely shot from just outside the box that sailed into the top right corner, past his stationary Spain-U21 teammate David de Gea.
As the benches emptied and the reserves got their chance, the Barcelona defense gifted the ball to Tom Cleverley who had to do very little to put Michael Owen clean through on goal. Owen, miraculously finished well to put United ahead, but made up for the unusually clean finish with a candidate for miss of the century a few minutes later. Being a Liverpool fan meant that watching Owen, a man who has traitor status on Merseyside, miss was one of the highlights of the match.
The referee was unusually involved in the match, awarding a number of fouls, but everyone realized it was a friendly about midway through the second half when Jonathan dos Santos, deputizing at right back while Alves is still on holiday, brought down Welback badly. In any competitive fixture the foul certainly would have elicited a second yellow card, but the referee merely had stern words with Jonathan and that was that.
The only other item of note from the game was Barcelona substitute Carlos Carmona, who looked quite lively for the duration of his time on the pitch.
One of the nice parallels for me in witnessing this match was that I had seen the same fixture nine years ago at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia - the first ever sporting event in that venue. What a difference a half-decade of world dominance makes for Barcelona! Nine years ago, when Barcelona scored (a beautiful chipped ball from Ronaldinho for Patrick Kluivert who smashed home a header), the only other Barcelona fan anywhere near me was an enormous guy sitting about three rows behind me, who reached over several people to wring my hand in celebration after the goal. The makeup of the fans in that game was probably about 85% in favor of United. At Fed Ex Field on Saturday, the breakdown was closer to 50-50, and I had the fortune of sitting in a predominantly pro-Barca section.
To be part of such a festive atmosphere was truly wonderful, in spite of the heat. Fed Ex Field proved to be a worthy venue for such a historic fixture; it is not common that the Champions League finalists meet again before the start of the next season. The stadium employees were friendly and accommodating, and the atmosphere created by the fans was lively indeed.
Final assessment: United look an excellent team and must be favorites for another Premier League title. It's still too early in the season to judge much about the Barcelona side. After watching this game, one can only wonder why in the world they are pursuing Cesc Fabregas. Quite frankly, Thiago looks the better player, and he's younger. He made United's defense look downright silly at times, and that's arguably the best defense in the world. Look for both of these teams to go deep into the Champions League; another final between the two would be a dream come true for fans around the world.
