International Champions Cup friendly: Barcelona ride on Neymar to edge Manchester United

Neymar, serene amid a frenzy of transfer speculation, scored the first-half goal that gave Barcelona a 1-0 victory over Manchester United on Thursday in an International Champions Cup friendly. The Brazilian striker, reportedly pondering a 222-million euro ($256.8 million) move to Paris Saint-Germain, showed why the French club would be willing to pay a world-record price to get him.

He delivered his third goal in two matches in the exhibition tournament as Barcelona handed the English Premiership club their first defeat of the pre-season. After a bright start Manchester United struggled to contain Barcelona’s star duo of Neymar and Lionel Messi.

Neymar broke through in the 31st, stripping the ball from Antonio Valencia in the penalty area, turning and finding the net. The goal proved enough to give a second straight victory to new Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde.

Valverde made sweeping changes to the team that beat Juventus 2-1. Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba, Samuel Umtiti, Nelson Semedo, Sergio Busquets and 19-year-old midfielder Carles Arena were included in the lineup headed by Messi and Neymar.

There were eight changes to the Manchester United team that defeated Real Madrid on penalties on Sunday, with captain Michael Carrick, Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard the only players to …read more