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Barcelona and Real Madrid will renew the stateside portion of their rivalry this summer in Las Vegas, where the Spanish giants will play a July 23 friendly at the Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium.
The pair met five years ago in Miami. It was a 3–2 Barcelona win attended by more than 66,000 that was part of the International Champions Cup, an ambitious offseason tour designed, in part, to pave the way for a La Liga game on American soil. That match never materialized and the ICC shut down during the pandemic.
This year’s American El Clásico is part of a five-game, five-team slate called the “Soccer Champions Tour.” It’s being organized by LA Galaxy owner AEG and will also feature Juventus, Club América and Chivas de Guadalajara playing games in Vegas, Dallas and California.
Barcelona and Madrid last toured the U.S. in 2019, although they didn’t face each other. Madrid took part in the final ICC while Barça played Napoli in a couple friendlies. Their respective fortunes have diverged since then. Madrid won La Liga in 2020 and just completed the La Liga and UEFA Champions League double this season.
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Barcelona, meanwhile, has struggled with debt and institutional issues, losing Lionel Messi and lifting only the 2021 Copa del Rey. It reportedly remains in pursuit of Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski, however, so there’s a slight chance the two-time reigning FIFA player of the year might make his Barcelona debut in the U.S. The Blaugrana are already scheduled to meet Inter Miami and the New York Red Bulls in July.
Both Barcelona and Juventus have Americans on the books, although neither is guaranteed to be with the club come the summer. Defender Sergiño Dest, 21, made 31 appearances for Barça but suffered multiple injures and then missed the final month of the season (and the current U.S. national team camp) with a hamstring issue. Midfielder Weston McKennie, 23, made 29 appearances for Juve in his second season in Turin, scoring four goals, before breaking his foot in February. He’s now back on the field and in camp with the U.S.
The Soccer Champions Tour will be part of what is becoming a busy summer for U.S. friendlies—the likes of Bayern Munich and Chelsea are also coming over. With the World Cup pushed back to November-December, there’s no major men’s event to compress the schedule, and well-known clubs appear eager to tap back into the American market after two pandemic summers.
Here’s a partial list of scheduled summer friendlies in the U.S.:
