Reigning Champions League and La Liga champion Real Madrid completed its pre-season US tour by defeating Chelsea 2-1 on Tuesday. The game was played at the NFL Carolina Panthers’ stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, that saw a near sellout crowd of 62,617. Vinicius Junior made his first start ahead of Real Madrid’s La Liga opener in 12 days.
A shot from Dani Ceballos toward the bottom left corner opened the scoring in the 19th minute. Real Madrid increased the lead to two goals in the 27th with a strike by Brahim Díaz, with an acute left-foot angle. Chelsea’s Noni Madueke hit back with a headed effort in the 39th minute but couldn’t level things.
Another friendly ended 2-2 between AC Milan and Barcelona in Baltimore, before Milan won 4-3 on penalties. Luka Jovic gave Milan the lead in the 10th minute with Christian Pulisic leveling in the 15th minute. Robert Lewandowski first struck for Barcelona in the 22nd minute before equalizing in the 58th minute. It was left to the penalty shootout to decide the winner, with AC Milan coming out on top.
