Pulisic annoys Barcelona but Lewandowski hits back twice

Pictured: Robert Lewandowski scored twice against AC Milan.
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FC Barcelona remains hard to beat under new manager Hansi Flick: after their preliminary round win over Manchester City (Penalty score 4:1) and Real Madrid (2:1) The Catalan also asked for everything from an already superior AC Milan on Wednesday night.

However, in front of 51,337 spectators at the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland, the Italian team got off to a much better start, as the former Borussia Dortmund player Pulisic was outstanding in his “home game”: after just ten minutes, the American international set up the former Frankfurt player Jovic in excellent fashion and with plenty of overview, and soon after he deceived the German national goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen with a left-foot shot after a sharp-angle pass from Rafael Leao (15th).

Barcelona were challenged – and now delivered. After a quick advance, Lewandowski passed the ball to Rafinha running on the left, but the 19-year-old goalkeeper Torriani was outstanding today (18th). After a great rebound, Rafinha found striker Lewandowski, who punished Theo who hesitated in the duel with a right-foot shot into the bottom right corner – the score was only 1:2 (22nd).

Barca’s vertical play caused Milan great trouble in this period, but Torriani saved again from Rafinha (24th). Shortly afterwards, the Milan goalkeeper blocked Lewandowski’s header from close range (29′). In the first half stoppage time, Barca celebrated, but Lewandowski’s wonderful back-heel pass to Paul Victor was ruled out for offside.

Flick: “We played very well in the second half”

After the break, the Catalans held on and equalized with this combination: Pau Victor, the hero of the most recent El Clasico, pushed into the right penalty area and crossed in exemplary fashion to Lewandowski, who only had to stick to his defensive left foot (58th).

Finally, after 90 minutes of regular time, the game went to penalties, where several professional players lost their nerve, but Torriani blocked the decisive shot from the 20-year-old Faye.

“We played great in the second half,” Flick praised more than once in the subsequent press conference. Lewandowski received special praise from the former Bayern coach: “He deserves both goals because he worked hard for both goals.” Overall, the former national team coach liked what his team showed him on the US tour. “We had 16-year-olds and they played very well,” said Flick. “Some players have really improved a lot in the last few days.”