Man Utd vs Barcelona Highlights 2-1

Barcelona 1-2 Manchester United: Nani and Michael Owen exact revenge for Champions League final

The rematch of last year's Champions League final ended with United earning a 2-1 win over the team that beat it to the European title.

Manchester United exacted at least a measure of revenge against Barcelona for its loss to the Spanish club in the 2011 Champions League final with a 2-1 friendly win in Washington D.C.

The match set an attendance record for a soccer match in the D.C. area, drawing 81,807 people to see two of the top clubs in the world do battle.

As would be expected, even in a friendly with little on the line, Barcelona dominated possession for long spells, but Nani took advantage of the Spanish side's high line and gave United a 1-0 lead 22 minutes into the match.

Danny Welbeck set the table with a fantastic break out of the back. The Portuguese winger held his run just long enough to beat the trap and from there his pace left him in alone on Victor Valdes, and Nani gave the keeper little chance of coming up with a save.Barcelona continued to dominate a large portion of the match, but the chances were limited by United's defense, which tucked in and looked comfortable dealing with Barcelona's constant pressure.

Nani tried to repay the favor to Welbeck 65 minutes in when he slipped a pass through to put the forward in on goal. Valdes made the save this time, and as the rebound fell to Nani he could only slash at a left-footed effort and put it up over the goal.

The miss would come back to haunt United seven minutes later as Thiago smashed home a brilliant equalizer from 25-yards that swerved away from David De Gea and into the upper corner of the goal.

But an uncharacteristic mistake from Barcelona in midfield put United back in front in the 66th minute. Tom Cleverly stepped in to intercept a pass and the break was on, with the midfielder playing Michael Owen in on goal with only Valdes to beat. Owen made no mistake and United was back in the lead.

Thiago and Barcelona continued to push the pace, but the midfielder's shot from range in the 89th minute couldn't replicate the brilliance of his earlier effort, and despite numerous pushes into United's end of the pitch the Catalans couldn't find a second equalizer.

Owen had a chance to put the match on ice in the first minute of stoppage time after Gabriel Obertan set him up with a great cross, but the striker scuffed the shot up over the frame.

Barcelona - Manchester United Wembley re-match in Washington DC

A fascinating re-run of the 2011 Champions League final is in prospepct as Europe's top two teams from last season go head-to-head again in the capital of the United States

Dimitar Berbatov, Ji-Sung Park and Anderson of Manchester United (Getty Images)

PROBABLE LINEUPS

Barcelona (4-3-3): Valdes, Abidal, Pique, Puyol, Fontas, Thiago, Busquets, Iniesta, Afellay, Jonathan, Villa.

Xavi is doubtful with an Achilles problem while Lionel Messi and new signing Alexis Sanchez are still on holiday following their Copa America participation with Argentina and Chile, respectively.

Manchester United (4-4-2): De Gea, Jones, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra, Young, Carrick, Anderson, Park, Rooney, Berbatov.

Javier Hernandez is out after suffering concussion in training ahead of United's game against the MLS All-Stars. Darren Fletcher is sidelined with a virus and Antonio Valencia with an ankle injury.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Manchester United defeated the MLS All-Stars 4-0 on Wednesday night at the Red Bull Arena.
• Barcelona will play three matches in the United States, starting with this clash against Manchester United. The club will then face CD Guadalajara and Club America on August 3 and 6, respectively.

• So far on their North American tour, Manchester United are undefeated, having won all four of their matches.

• Manchester United will begin their Premier League season on August 14 while Barcelona start their La Liga campaign a week later on August 21.

• This will be the first time the teams have met since the Champions League final at Wembley in May. Barcelona came away 3-1 winners in that showpiece contest.

• The 2011-12 season will mark Pep Guardiola's fourth campaign in charge of the Spanish champions. It will be Sir Alex Ferguson's 25th with United.

• Barca have played just two pre-season friendlies so far, beating Internacional 4-2 on penalties and defeating Bayern Munich 2-0 to win the 2011 Audi Cup.

• FedEx Field seats roughly 91,000 people - nearly 16,000 more than Manchester United's Old Trafford, but 8,000 fewer than Barcelona's Camp Nou.

Field Report

 Barcelona

 Manchester United

Head to Head

UEFA Champions League ‎(UCL)‎	28 May 2011	Barcelona 3 - Manchester United 1
UEFA Champions League ‎(UCL)‎	27 May 2009	Barcelona 2 - Manchester United 0

Last Five Matches

27 Jul 2011	Barcelona 2 - FC Bayern München 0	FR
26 Jul 2011	Barcelona 2 - Internacional 2	FR
28 May 2011	Barcelona 3 - Manchester United 1	UCL
21 May 2011	Málaga 1 - Barcelona 3	LIGA
15 May 2011	Barcelona 0 - Deportivo La Coruña 0	LIGA

28 Jul 2011	MLS All-Stars 2009 0 - Manchester United 4	FR
23 Jul 2011	Chicago Fire 1 - Manchester United 3	FR
21 Jul 2011	Seattle Sounders F.C. 0 -Manchester United 7	FR
14 Jul 2011	New England Revolution 1 -Manchester United 4	FR
28 May 2011	Barcelona 3 - Manchester United 1	UCL

Barcelona 2-0 Bayern Munich Thiago brace clinches Audi Cup for European champions

Bongarts

Barcelona has clinched the Audi Cup after a straightforward 2-0 victory over Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.

Star of the show was Barca's emerging star Thiago Alcantara, who struck in either half to condemn the hosts to defeat, in what was an impressive all-round display from the 20-year-old.

The match was a somewhat low key affair despite the 60,000 packed into the stadium; Bayern fielded nine changes from the side that started the penalty-kick win over AC Milan, while Barca shuffled its pack but included Thiago and Andres Iniesta in its midfield.

It was the Catalan side who enjoyed the majority of possession in the opening exchanges, but aside from a David Villa free-kick that was palmed to safety by Butt and a half-chance for Jonathan Soriano, opportunities on goal were at a premium.

Bayern should then have taken the lead against the run of play as David Alaba raced clear, but he hesitated with his finish, and Victor Valdes did extremely well to spread himself and block the effort.

The Austrian was made to rue that miss as Barca took the lead on 41 minutes. Maxwell's chipped cross into the area looked for Thiago at the back post, and the young Spaniard leapt higher than Diego Contento to glance his header into the corner.

The flow of play in the second-half was severely disturbed due to incessant substitutions from both sides. Bayern introduced the likes of Toni Kroos, Mario Gomez and Thomas Muller as it sought to peg back the European champions.

However, the new arrivals were left to look on in awe as Thiago all but ended the contest with his second goal of the evening. Finding space at the edge of the area, he expertly curled a shot from all of thirty yards into Butt's top left corner, and took the acclaim from his teammates after another superb outing.

Barca was able to see out the match from there, and after edging past Internacional on penalties on Tuesday, Pep Guardiola's side ruthlessly clinched the Audi Cup on German soil

Man United rout MLS All-Stars

Manchester United have beaten the MLS All-Stars 4-0 in a pre-season friendly.

After pledging his short-term future to United, Dimitar Berbatov served notice he intends to fight his way back into Sir Alex Ferguson's good books with an excellent performance in the one-sided romp over the MLS All-Stars.

With Javier Hernandez back at the team hotel, having happily recovered from the concussion he suffered at a training session, Berbatov took centre stage.

The Bulgarian played a major role in a superb one-touch move that also involved Wayne Rooney as Anderson put the visitors in front.

Then, after Park Ji-sung had added a second, a combination of skill, agility and brute force allowed Berbatov to lash home United's third, his first goal of the tour.

It was rather disappointing for All-Stars skipper David Beckham, who tried hard enough and went close on a couple of occasions, including a curling free-kick that crashed into the side-netting near the end, but lacked sufficient support.

United took some time to get going. However, it was not long before they were scoring one of those beautiful goals Berbatov said earlier this week that he likes so much.

Picking up possession 10 yards outside the box, Berbatov surged forward, fed Wayne Rooney to his left, then flicked a sublime return pass back to the England striker, who had completed the initial one-two.

Rooney spotted Anderson's midfield burst, laid the ball into the Brazilian's path and he slotted home with ease.

It was a marvellous goal by any standard and worthy of Berbatov's view of the game.

Beckham brought a fingertip save out of Anders Lindegaard, who was preferred to new arrival David de Gea, and the Dane did well once more as he pushed Brad Davis' long-range shot wide.

For all their hosts' industry, it was United who struck again just before half-time when Park collected Ashley Young's square ball and showed some neat skill inside the area before rattling a left-foot shot into the far corner.

Having claimed one brilliant assist, Berbatov then broke his duck for the tour in quite magnificent style too.

Set free by Rooney, the Bulgarian deftly lifted the ball over Tally Hall, then, when it bounced back off the bar, he controlled with his chest before volleying home from point-blank range.

Ferguson made six changes on the hour, with Berbatov one of the men replaced, although he gave his £30.75million record signing a big smile and a handshake as he came off.

Danny Welbeck did not take long to mark his appearance, although his 20-yard effort did require a massive deflection off Geoff Cameron before it flew past Hall.

It maintained United's 100% record, although the stiffest test is still to come, against a Barcelona side that defeated them so conclusively in last season's Champions League final and have already landed more silverware, beating hosts Bayern Munich overnight to lift the annual Audi Cup.