Without three points or a title to be disputed, with Las Vegas (USA) as the stage and with nothing but honor at stake. This will be the atypical classic that Real Madrid and Barcelona will play this Saturday, the first of this season but that comes in full and in the form of a friendly duel.
The Allegiant Stadium in the city of the game, inaugurated in 2020 and with capacity for around 65,000 people, will host this classic from 11:00 p.m.
The closest precedent for a friendly match between Madrid and Barcelona was also in the United States, when in 2017 Barcelona won 2-3 in Miami (USA) with goals from Leo Messi, Ivan Rakitic and Gerard Piqué for the azulgrana and goals from Mateo Kovacic and Marco Asensio for the whites.
After three days of preparation in Los Angeles (USA), Madrid arrives at this duel with Barcelona still with the positive inertia of their triumphs last year (League and Champions League) and with the confidence of having maintained the block.
Once the odyssey to sign Kylian Mbappé was resolved -unsuccessfully-, the Whites have signed Antonio Rüdiger, who arrived on a free transfer from Chelsea, and Aurélien Tchouaméni, from Monaco and who cost 80 million euros.
Both could make their debut for Madrid in a game in which the white coach, Carlo Ancelotti, has Dani Carvajal as a doubt, who did not participate in the last training session in Los Angeles this Friday due to physical discomfort.
The one who will be in Las Vegas is Karim Benzema, who joined the Whites’ preseason directly in the Californian city this Tuesday and who has trained at the same level as his teammates and with total normality this week.
Without movements on the transfer front for the remainder of the summer, in Madrid they are still working in the exit section, where names like Borja Mayoral, Mariano Díaz, Dani Ceballos and even Marco Asensio are still unclear about their future.
Although this classic has no value beyond measuring itself against its great enemy, Madrid will seek ‘revenge’ after the 0-4 against Barcelona in the league last March, a tough defeat that was one of the few disappointments of the meringues in a season that ended brilliantly.
CULÉ OPTIMISM
On the part of Barça, the summer is leading to the culé club adding good news thanks to the financial operations for the sale of part of the club’s assets that are allowing it to sign players and this joy wants to be transferred to the pitch in the classic.
In addition, this match against the great rival will surely serve for Robert Lewandowski, the last signing to arrive and the one with the most media coverage, to make his debut in the Barça shirt after not having been able to do so in the win against Inter Miami (0-6) in the first party of the American tour because his signing had not yet been 100% closed.
The Polish striker has faced Madrid eight times (with the Borussia Dortmund shirt and the Bayern Munich shirt), in which he has scored six goals. He did four of them in the first leg of the 2012-2013 Champions League semifinals, in Dortmund’s 4-1 win against the Whites.
The arrival of Lewandowski is one of the main reasons why Barça has recovered the self-esteem lost during the past season, something that has even led to the president Joan Laporta having dared with a second banner addressed to Real Madrid after the ‘You win to see you again’ of the election campaign.
At the Barça team’s concentration hotel in Las Vegas (USA), the Palms Casino Resort, Laporta will appear these days on a bright screen with the following message: «Calm down, ‘merengues’. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
For the game against Real Madrid, the Catalan team will already be able to count on their coach, Xavi Hernández, on the bench. The technician was finally able to solve his problems with his visa and has already conducted his first training sessions on American soil.
The other novelties against the whites, in addition to Lewandowski, could be Gerard Piqué, Ferran Torres, who has already returned to training with the group despite the fact that he has not yet been discharged from his right foot injury, and Miralem Pjanic, who has returned to the expedition after traveling to Nice for his second paternity.
Likely lineups:
Real Madrid: Courtois; Odriozola, Militao, Alaba, Mendy; Casemiro, Kroos, Modric, Ceballos; Vinicius and Benzema.
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Dest, Araujo, Pique, Jordi Alba; Sergio Busquets, Gavi, Pedri; Raphinha, Ansu Fati and Aubameyang. EFE.
