Barcelona vs Leicester City. International Champions Cup.
Friends ArenaAttendance42,879.
Thursday 4 August 2016 10:23, UK
Barcelona and Leicester City produced a stunning 90 minutes in the ICC as the champions of Spain beat the champions of England 4-2 in Stockholm.
Barca were in complete control in the first half and deservedly led 3-0 at the break after Munir's brace and Luis Suarez's excellent strike.
However, the introduction of Ahmed Musa at half-time transformed the game and Leicester's summer signing scored two superb goals to give the Foxes hope of a comeback.
A late effort by substitute Rafa Mujica wrapped up the win for a Barca, who rang the changes in the second half, but a similarly rotated Leicester can take plenty from their performance ahead of the Community Shield meeting with Manchester United on Sunday.
Both teams named strong line-ups for the International Champions Cup fixture at Stockholm's impressive Friends Arena, with Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy starting up top for Leicester and Barcelona naming Suarez and Lionel Messi in their XI.
But it was one-way traffic for much of the first period as the Spanish side controlled the game, with the brilliant Messi pulling the strings in his role as a withdrawn forward.
And Leicester could barely get near the multiple time World Player of the Year, who played a part in all three of the Catalan club's first-half goals.
Munir took advantage of a threaded Messi through-ball to open the scoring on 26 minutes, but, although Messi did play a role, Barca's second was all about Suarez. The Uruguayan produced a sublime piece of skill to twist into space before picking out the roof of the net with a poked finish to produce a standing ovation from the Swedish crowd.
Munir latched on to a Suarez ball over the top, after Messi had sprung a counter-attack, to make it 3-0 right at the end of the half, and at the point it looked like being an embarrassing evening for the English Champions.
But a string of subs at the break transformed the game, with Musa scoring a brilliant solo goal as he spun away on halfway and charged past a number of Barcelona defenders before picking out the bottom corner with a clinical finish.
Musa's quick feet set up a slightly less spectacular second, but the performance of the striker and fellow substitute Jeffrey Schlupp had put Barcelona on edge and the game was still in the balance until Mujica picked out the top corner late on.
