Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois saved from the spot as
the reigning English Premier League champions beat European kings Barcelona 4-2
on penalties in an International Champions Cup friendly on Tuesday.
The teams were locked at 2-2 after full time.
Chelsea's Eden Hazard opened the scoring in the 10th minute
but Luis Suarez and Sandro Ramirez netted second-half goals to put Barcelona
ahead, only for Gary Cahill to pull the Blues level with a header in the 85th
minute.
In the shootout, Alan Halilovic missed for Barcelona when he
slammed a shot off the crossbar to open the second round. In the third,
Courtois denied Gerard Pique and Chelsea's Ramires and Loic Perry scored to
secure the triumph.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, who sent Brazilian defender Filipe
Luis to Atletico Madrid hours before the match, wanted a top-notch US farewell
before the Blues flew back to London early Wednesday morning and neither side
disappointed before 78,914 fans.
Barcelona, coming off an unprecedented second European treble
of La Liga and the Copa del Rey plus the Champions League, were without five
players, including standouts Lionel Messi and Neymar, who took part in Copa
America last month.
Chelsea's three South American players - Willian, Radamel
Falcao and Juan Cuadrado -- had already seen duty as substitutes for the Blues
in US warm-up friendlies
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