Barcelona suffered their first defeat of the pre-season as they went down 2-1 to Manchester United in a friendly played in front of an 81,000 sell-out crowd in Washington DC. A 75th minute goal from Michael Owen secured the Reds victory after Thiago had equalised Nani´s first-half opener, giving Sir Alex Ferguson´s side a small measure of revenge for their Champions League final defeat in May.
Pep Guardiola once again took the opportunity to give playing time to some of the younger members of his squad, allied to six of the team that played at Wembley (United started with three), and while his team dominated possession as usual they lacked the killer punch in front of goal. Whether it was the sapping heat and high humidity, or the fact United are much more advanced in their preparations for the upcoming season, Guardiola´s men seemed unable to raise the tempo to trouble former Atl
