Manchester United defeated Barcelona 2-1 on Saturday in a friendly re-match of last season's Champions League final.Barcelona lifted their fourth European crown with a 3-1 win over United at Wembley Stadium on May 29.

And although goals from Nani and Michael Owen helped the English Premier League champions come out on top at FedEx Field, Washington, the pre-season victory is unlikely to have been much consolation for United, who have lost two of the last three Champions League finals to the Spanish giants.

Thiago Alcantara struck for Barcelona, who were without Lionel Messi, Dani Alves and new signing Alexis Sanchez.

In other matches, Inter Milan defeated Celtic 2-0 despite being reduced to 10 men in their Dublin Super Cup pre-season match.

Luc Castaignos and Giampaolo Pazzini scored first-half goals to put the Italian side ahead at the Aviva Stadium, and despite Tiago Motta's dismissal for a second yellow card, Inter held on to record a victory.

Inter remain second on the Super Cup table after day one following Manchester City's 3-0 victory over an Airtricity XI of players from the Irish Premier League.

With new signing Sergio Aguero watching on from the stands, Roberto Mancini fielded a side largely made up of reserve and youth team players, but it made little difference as the English Premier League side controlled the match.

One of City's forgotten men, Shaun Wright-Phillips, broke the deadlock on 52 minutes, before Adam Johnson made it 2-0 seven minutes later and young substitute Luca Scapuzzi finished off the victory with a third on 83 minutes.

City will face Inter on Sunday to decide the winner of the tournament.

In London, Arsenal threw away a two goal lead and were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw against Boca Juniors in the Emirates Cup.

Robin van Persie and Aaron Ramsey had given the Gunners a comfortable lead in the first half, only for defensive lapses to allow Lucas Viatri and Pablo Mouche to equalise for the Brazilian side after the break.

The New York Red Bulls top the Emirates Cup table after day one following their 1-0 win over French side Paris Saint-Germain, with Joel Lindpere scoring the winner in the 27 minute.

Fernando Torres was on target as Chelsea won the final of the Barclay's Asia Trophy 2-0 against fellow EPL side Aston Villa.

Youngster Josh McEachran opened the scoring in the first half before Tores deflected a Florent Malouda strike past Villa goalkeeper Shay Given to register just his second goal in a blue shirt.

Blackburn easily defeated Hong Kong side Kitchee 3-0 in the third-place playoff.

Elsewhere, Everton beat newly relegated Birmingham City 2-1 at St Andrews, Bolton defeated Conference outfit Newport County 3-1 and Norwich won 3-0 away to Coventry City, while West Brom and Wolves also recorded narrow victories over Bristol City and Ipswich Town respectively.

Finally, La Liga runners-up Real Madrid defeated Championship side Leicester City 2-1, with Jose Callejon and Karim Benzema on target for the Spanish visitors.