Napoli vs Barcelona LIVE: La Liga-Serie A Cup 2019 football as it happened – Spanish champions win 2-1 in Miami

Goals from Sergio Busquets and Ivan Rakitic saw Barcelona edge out Napoli in an entertaining encounter in Miami in the first leg of the La Liga-Serie A Cup on Wednesday night.

Napoli had by far the better of the first half against an experimental Barca side featuring new signing Junior Firpo and youngsters Moussa Wague and Jean-Clair Todibo in defence, but the Catalans took the lead after 38 minutes when Busquets picked his spot from outside the box and guided a shot into the far corner.

It was the midfielder's first goal since October 1st, 2017, but Barca had goalkeeper Neto to thank for a number of fine saves, including one superb stop from Lorenzo Insigne in the first half.

Carlo Ancelotti's side soon got back into it quickly and levelled when Samuel Umtiti turned Jose Callejon's shot into his own net four minutes before half-time.

Antoine Griezmann and Luis Suarez both started for Barca, but the Uruguayan was particularly wasteful with his finishing and both were replaced at the interval.

Rafinha's energy helped the Spanish champions for a while, but Napoli again created chances and substitute Arkadiusz Milik missed a number of opportunities, including one glorious chance when he headed over at the back post from point-blank range.

That left the Polish striker smiling, but it should not have because Barca ramped up the pressure in the closing stages as Frenkie de Jong, Ousmane Dembele, Gerard Pique and Nelson Semedo all came on.

De Jong and Dembele in particular gave Ernesto Valverde's side a real lift, the French forward striking the post with a curler from the edge of the box, going close with two more efforts and causing Napoli all sorts of problems with his electrifying pace.

But it was left to Rakitic to seal the win as the Croatian lashed home a shot from the edge of the area after 79 minutes to give Barca the edge in this two-legged series, with the second game to come in Ann Arbor (Michigan) on Sunday.

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