Barcelona took their pre-season preparations a gear higher after beating Real Madrid 2-1 in the pre-season tour of the United States.

Pau Victor opened the scoring for Barca just before half-time, and added another immediately after the restart.

Nico Paz scored a late consolation goal for Real Madrid to make it 2-1.

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was disappointed at the defeat, and admitted he hates losing to Barcelona.

Courtois also hinted that Real Madrid will beat Barcelona when it matters.

“We don’t like losing against Barcelona,” Thibaut Courtois has told the media after Real Madrid’s 2-1 loss to the Catalans.

“It’s obvious that what counts are the games during the season, and as Carvajal said last time, when push comes to shove, we’ll see what happens.”