Catalan giants Barcelona and their arch-rivals Real Madrid notched up victories against Leicester City in Stockholm and Bayern Munich in New Jersey, respectively, in the International Champions Cup on Wednesday. Antonio Conte's Chelsea also finished their tour of the United States in positive fashion, securing a 3-1 victory over AC Milan.
After pulling off what was arguably the greatest title win in the last 30 years, Leicester City had a tough time adjusting to the pace of a European great. Barcelona ran riot in Stockholm, while Bayern boss Carlo Ancelotti had a tough reunion with his former club, with whom he won the third of his UEFA Champions League wins as coach.
Even without names like Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, Zinedine Zidane's side looked star-studded. Despite ending on the losing side, Leicester's £16 million signing Ahmed Musa was the star of the day, scoring a brilliant solo goal to send warning signs to other Premier League sides.
Barcelona 4-2 Leicester City
We are now past the stage where we stop for a second and think, "Hang on, is this Leicester City playing against the European elite?". They sit pretty on the throne, and rightfully so. Their backline might have been ripped apart by Barca here but they didn't go down before pulling two back in the second half. It was a testament to their powers of resilience.
Lionel Messi was all set to put his setbacks from international football and tax fraud allegations behind him with a defence-splitting pass, which found Munir El Haddadi, who calmly slotted the ball home. Luis Suarez played and displayed the three things he does expertly on the field: embarrassing defenders with his technique, scoring goals, and getting into petty squabbles with opposition players.
The Uruguayan finished superbly to double his side's lead from another Messi pass, and had a hand with the third goal too. The ball was lobbed to the box with some precision to the waiting El Haddadi, who promptly scored his second.
Then, Leicester's Musa ran from from the half way line, evaded a couple of defenders and thumped the ball into the net to spark off a spirited fightback in the second half. Musa added another to make it as close as 3-2, before Barca's promising teenage prospect Rafa Mujica thwarted any hopes of a comeback from the Foxes with a goal after some intricate passing a la Barca.
Bayern Munich 0-1 Real Madrid
Real Madrid started off slowly and took nearly an hour into the game before creating openings. David Alaba curled a superb free-kick, which hit the post and went out. In the second half, the European champions created a wave of attacks, and Marcelo chipped the ball beautifully from the centre to find Alvaro Morata. The striker's shot went wide of the left post, however.
Danilo, who came on for Dani Carvajal, made a dash on the right flank, cut in and unleashed an excellent left-foot shot that left Bayern 'keeper Sven Ulreich flat-footed. Isco also produced a piece of magic, with his long-range effort cannoning back off the post. but Real held firm.
Chelsea 3-1 AC Milan
Antonio Conte and Chelsea's US tour came to a close with plenty of optimism. Last year, more than half-a-dozen players had gone missing. Despite Real Madrid slipping past them a few days ago, the four-time Premier League winners showed the promise of old. Eden Hazard and Oscar were firing again. The Brazilian in particular, has been a player transformed under Conte.
Victor Moses's shot was parried away by Milan's teenage keeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma, and Bertrand Traore latched onto the rebound from close range. Milan looked like coming back into the contest after Giacomo Bonaventura embarrassed Thibaut Courtois at goal. Oscar then converted a penalty and thumped home a stylish finish from the right to hand Chelsea the win.