It was the clash of the champions at the Friends Arena in Stockholm, Sweden on 3rd August, 2016 between Barcelona and Leicester City for the International Champions Cup. The champions of Spain and England squared off against each other for the first time in their history and neither team took the match lightly. While Leicester started with their two main stars – Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez, Barcelona didn’t hold back either, both Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez started for the Catalonian club.
Leicester looked a little out of depth in the first half. They were completely dominated by the Spanish giants and struggled to maintain possession. In the first 45 minutes, Barcelona netted three goals courtesy of Suarez and, Munir El Haddadi who scored a brace. Leicester seemed like they were done for, but they started the second half by bringing on their new signing Ahmad Musa, who scored almost immediately.
For those familiar with Suarez’s history, it is a well-known fact that he suffers from the tendency to ‘lose it’ at times and that’s exactly what happened last night as well. In the 58th minute, Danny Drinkwater mistimed his tackle and caught Suarez’s foot. Since neither men are the type to hold back, they got into a minor altercation before their teammates could break them up.
Video courtesy: Youtube
Things could have ended there but Suarez’s lack of impulse control wouldn’t allow it. While the referee was trying to end the issue, even though the stadium microphones couldn’t quite catch it, anyone who could read lips knew that Suarez called Drinkwater a f****** c***. Suarez’s grasp of the English language may be limited but the man surely knows a handful of choice insults for situations just like this.
The match ended 4-2 in favour of Barcelona even though Musa managed to score a second goal.
Leicester City should be heartened by their second half performance ahead of their Community Shield match against Manchester United.