Barcelona Defeats America Ahead of Real Madrid Clash (Soccer)

Barcelona forward David Villa scored on a header in the first half and Seydou Keita scored in the second half as Barcelona defeated Club America 2-0 Saturday at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

It was a fine way to cap off the last match for Barcelona on their American tour. The Catalans earlier lost to Manchester United, 2-1, and to Chivas of Guadalajara, 4-1.

The friendly matches serve as a tune up for the La Liga regular season, and the first leg of the Spanish Supercopa next Sunday against main rival Real Madrid.

The first match will be played at Santiago Bernabeu and the second leg will be played at Camp Nou three days later. Carlos Puyol is not expected to play due to injury.

The match pinning the two best clubs in the Spanish league will garner a great deal of attention, as both Barcelona and Real Madrid attempt to get the start of their seasons off on a high note.

Once again, Barcelona played a friendly without star Lionel Messi who is coming off playing in Argentina's disappointing Copa America performance. Barcelona did, however, have the services of Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, and Eric Abidal among others.

The match against high-profile America was a lively one. Villa's header goal came in the 24th minute off an assist from Adrian Correia. In the 90th minute, Seydou Keita scored in the final goal off a great effort and assist from reserve forward Gerard Deulofeu.

"We played similar (against Chivas), but because we lost, we were terrible," Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said. "Now, because we won, we were awesome. Today we played with much confidence, much better."

Playing the match for America was U.S. left back Edgar Castillo who is expected to play against Mexico in new head coach Jurgen Klinsmann's debut on Wednesday. Castillo once played for the Mexico National Team.