Pau Victor stars as Barca beat Real Madrid in New York

In a thrilling encounter at the MetLife Stadium, Barcelona extended their unbeaten streak in US El Clasicos, defeating Real Madrid 2-1. 

Pau Victor was the star of the night, scoring twice to lead Barca to victory in front of 82,154 fans, in what was also Hansi Flick's first El Clasico as Barça manager.

This latest edition of the world's greatest sports rivalry marked the fourth El Clasico in the United States in recent years, with previous matches in Miami (2017), Las Vegas (2022), and Dallas (2023). 

Barca's victory continued their dominance on American soil, having won the first three matchups as well.

For the second times in as many games on this summer's US tour, Barca had to deal with a lightning delay. Earlier in the week, Barca's win over Manchester City started over an hour late. 
In this match the delay was of a similar duration, although the match had already been underway before being halted in the 12th minute.

After the interruption, the players returned to the field for a brief warm-up session, with halftime adjusted to only five minutes to compensate for the delay.

Barça came out like gangbusters in the early going. Before the delay, in the 7th minute, Pau Victor almost opened the scoring with a powerful header from a corner, only to be denied by Thibaut Courtois' quick reflexes right on the goal line.

The Catalans continued to press, and by the 21st minute, Pau Victor and Unai Hernandez combined to make a menacing run, but Real Madrid's defense managed to thwart the attack. Los Blancos thought they had taken the lead in the 24th when Brahim Diaz set up Arda Guler, who beat Marc ter Stegen, but Guler was ruled offside. At the other end, Pau Víctor kept up the pressure, firing a long-range shot just wide of Courtois' right post in the 26th minute.

The breakthrough came in the 42nd. Pau Victor, who had been knocking on the door all game, nodded in from close range. The play was set up by Alex Valle's precise cross, with Robert Lewandowski providing the assist from the far post, inside the six-yard box. Barca went into halftime with a 1-0 lead, although the intermission itself was a just five minutes, with players remaining on the field.

The second half saw Pau VIctor continue to shine. In the 52nd, he forced Courtois to make a spectacular diving save. Just two minutes later, Victor struck again after Lewandowski linked up with Valle, who delivered another precision cross, allowing the 22-year-old to finish in stride and double Barca's lead. This goal marked Pau Víctor's third in two games.

Real Madrid fought back, and Vinicius Junior came close to scoring on several occasions, only to be denied by ter Stegen's heroics. In the 63rd minute, ter Stegen made a crucial save at the far post from a corner, and another in the 69th minute at the near post after a determined run by the Brazilian.

Hansi Flick made several substitutions, with Raphinha coming on for Víctor, and Ter Stegen being replaced by Inaki Pena, with the German goalkeeper passing the captain's armband to Lewandowski. The fresh legs helped Barça maintain their control, especially with Ilkay Gundogan coming on to help with ball possession in the midfield.

Real Madrid managed to pull one back in the 82nd when Nico Paz headed in a corner kick delivered by Arda Guler, making the final moments tense. Despite the late push from Real Madrid, Barca held firm to secure a 2-1 victory, continuing the Catalans' supremacy in these American showdowns.