Inter Miami CF hosted LaLiga giants FC Barcelona for a historic friendly at a sold-out DRV PNK Stadium on Tuesday night. Numerous Inter Miami players, including two Inter Miami CF II players, received valuable minutes against world-class opposition in front of a stadium with 19,113 passionate supporters present in which the visitors earned a 0-6 victory.
Lineup Notes
Inter Miami lined up for the special affair with a strong starting XI featuring many regular starters, as well as many returning faces. Nick Marsman started in goal; DeAndre Yedlin, Damion Lowe, Aimé Mabika, and Kieran Gibbs lined up in defense; captain Gregore, Victor Ulloa and Alejandro Pozuelo formed the midfield three; Bryce Duke, Indiana Vassilev and Gonzalo HiguaÃn led the line in attack.
Match Action
The match pitted Inter Miami against the Spanish side for its second-ever international friendly and featured the largest crowd in DRV PNK Stadium history.Â
First-half goals from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Raphinha and Ansu Fati gave the visitors a three-goal lead heading into the break.Â
Entering the second period, Inter Miami made seven changes; Emerson RodrÃguez, Noah Allen, Chris McVey, Harvey Neville, Robert Taylor, Jean Mota and Ryan Sailor came on in place of HiguaÃn, Gibbs, Gregore, Yedlin, Vassilev, Pozuelo and Mabika.
The second half saw Barcelona net three more goals, this time scored by Gavi, Memphis Depay, and Ousmane Dembélé. Inter Miami, meanwhile, made four more substitutions; Clément Diop, Joevin Jones, Romeo Beckham and Jairo Quinteros came on for Marsman, Ulloa, Duke and Lowe.
Despite the result, the sold out crowd at DRV PNK Stadium was electric throughout the 90 minutes of action of the memorable occasion.
Post-Match Reaction
"It was a brilliant occasion to play, you could feel the buzz in the air, the supporters…We now experienced what a sold out DRV PNK feels like and I think from a playing point of view, the game was always going to be, for us, something to enjoy," said head coach Phil Neville. "I thought it was a brilliant learning experience for all involved, I thought that we had to dig in, we had to fight."
Next Match
Inter Miami will now resume MLS regular season action when it travels to take on New York City FC at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, July 23, at 7 p.m. ET.
Individual match tickets for each remaining regular season home match on the Inter Miami CF schedule are available by visiting https://www.intermiamicf.com/tickets/single. Fans can also call 305-428-0611 to learn more.
