Barcelona tackle Actual Madrid in a pre-season Clasico pleasant in Las Vegas on Saturday that guarantees to supply a glimpse into the way forward for the Spanish giants’ iconic rivalry.
The gaudy playing captial within the Nevada desert is extra generally related to internet hosting blockbuster heavyweight boxing contests than clashes between members of European soccer’s aristocracy.
However for one evening no less than, only a stone’s throw from the shimmering neon lights of the Vegas Strip, the attractive recreation will take prime billing as Barca and Actual face off on the 65,000-capacity Allegiant Stadium, house of the Las Vegas Raiders NFL workforce.
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The pleasant seems set to supply a style of what the following chapter of Barcelona and Actual Madrid’s rivalry might seem like.
With the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo lengthy gone from Barcelona and Actual respectively, a slew of recent signings can be within the highlight when the 2 groups take to the sector for a recreation that kicks off at 8pm native time (0300 GMT Sunday).
The pleasant might mark the primary Clasico confrontation between Actual’s veteran French star Karim Benzema and Barcelona’s new attacking recruit Robert Lewandowski.
Benzema has joined up with Actual in Los Angeles this week after being granted an prolonged trip by the membership.
Benzema’s talismanic performances — and objectives — had been largely chargeable for serving to Actual win a file 14th European Champions League crown in Might.
Though earlier experiences instructed Benzema would play no half in Saturday’s Clasico, supervisor Carlo Ancelotti picked the striker to guide the road in a follow recreation on the UCLA Campus on Thursday, alongside Federico Valverde and Brazilian star Vinicius.
Ancelotti can be probably to provide a run-out to new signings Antonio Rudiger, who joined from English membership Chelsea, and former Monaco midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni.
“The signings convey nice high quality to the squad,” Ancelotti stated this week.
“They’re in the very best we might discover available on the market. Rudiger is a superb centre-back and Tchouameni is nice, very younger and has a whole lot of potential.”
– ‘By no means an exhibition’ –
Ancelotti has hinted that he might use Actual’s three-game US tour as a chance to experiment along with his ahead line, citing the bizarre mid-season disruption that may come this 12 months as a result of first ever World Cup being held in the midst of the European soccer calendar.
“Benzema is first alternative however we have now to grasp that it will likely be a wierd season, with the World Cup in between and we have now to take a look at totally different choices,” Ancelotti stated.
A kind of choices might contain deploying Eden Hazard as a false 9, Ancelotti stated.
Whereas many pre-season video games usually have the texture of glorified follow video games, Ancelotti insisted that the mutual antipathy between Actual and Barcelona ensured that Saturday’s conflict would have an edge.
“It will likely be a really, very aggressive match. It’s by no means an exhibition towards Barcelona. It will likely be a spectacle,” Ancelotti stated.
Ancelotti’s Barcelona counterpart, Xavi Hernandez, can even have the possibility to run the rule over the membership’s summer time signings.
Bayern Munich sharpshooter Lewandowski is the membership’s marquee acquistion, however Barcelona have additionally invested closely to herald Brazilian ahead Raphina from Leeds in addition to midfielder Franck Kessie from AC Milan and defender Andreas Christensen from Chelsea.
Lewandowski was unveiled by Barcelona on Wednesday however didn’t play within the earlier evening’s 6-0 thrashing of Inter Miami.
The Polish star is determined to get to work although along with his new teammates and could possibly be set for a Clasico debut on Saturday.
“I’m all the time hungry to succeed and have the successful mentality,” Lewandowski stated this week. “This can be a new problem for me and I’ve already seen this can be a squad with large potential.
“There may be a whole lot of high quality and I need to do my finest for the membership. I’m prepared.”
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