FC Barcelona will play their first match in the International Champions Cup on Tuesday, July 21st at 8pm against LA Galaxy at the Rose Bowl stadium in
FC Barcelona will play their first match in the International Champions Cup on Tuesday, July 21st at 8pm against LA Galaxy at the Rose Bowl stadium in Los Angeles, CA. With new signings for Barcelona like Arda Turan, Barcelona are looking to add another piece of hardware to their trophy case. This task won’t come easy for Barcelona as the La Galaxy have won 4/5 of their last games despite missing five essential players. Omar Gonzalez (USA), Alan Gordon (USA), Gyasi Zardes (USA), Jaime Penedo (Panama) and Giovani dos Santos (Mexico) are all on international duty playing the semifinals at the 2015 CONCACAF GOLD CUP.
In the last 5 games the Galaxy have outscored their opponents 20 goals to 3, creating a goal difference of +17.
Due to their participation in the Copa America, Neymar and Lionel Messi will not be present, however, Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena recognizes this is still a special opportunity for his side to defend top class players such as Luis Suarez and Andres Iniesta.
[quote_box_center]”Even without Messi and Neymar, they have a large contingent of outstanding players and it’ll certainly be a good challenge for us. These games are for the fans and a lot of people are coming to support both teams and we want it to be a good game.”- Bruce Arena[/quote_box_center]
When asked about his side having to defend a tricky and multi-faceted striker like Suarez he had this to say, ““He’s one of the top players in the world. He’s in anybody’s conversation.” Arena followed up with, “He scores goals. That’s a quality that if you can do that consistently, it’s remarkable. It’s no secret that he, Messi or Ronaldo are spoken of as the best players in the world.”
This match is a once-in-a-blue-moon experience where you get to see The MLS’ best team get a chance to prove that they’re amongst the best in the world.
