So the preseason finally gets a little more exciting for Barcelona.
After a comfortable win against LA Galaxy to kick off the United States Tour, the Blaugrana face a good challenge as they encounter Premier League giants Manchester United at Levi's Stadium, which probably means we'll see the best display of passing since that stadium was opened -- sorry, Colin Kaepernick.
Manchester United continue to spend loads of money, and the squad coached by Louis Van Gaal hopes to finally live up to the hype. Despite being just a friendly, playing against Barcelona should be a good test for the Red Devils. Both teams are coming off of wins, and it should be fun.
Date/Time: Saturday, July 25, 2015, 1pm PT, 4pm ET, 10pm CET
Venue: Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, CA, USA
On TV: FOX (US - English), ESPN Deportes (US - Spanish), TSN5 (Canada), Star Sports HD 4 (India), TV3 (Spain)
Online: WatchESPN (US), MUTV (UK)
Manchester United Team News: The winningest club in Premier League history has gone through tough times over the last few years since Sir Alex Ferguson left the team after more than two decades. The disastrous David Moyes months were followed by an injury-plagued, unexciting first season under Van Gaal. The team qualified for the Champions League, however, and they opened the wallets again to give the Dutch manager the best squad possible.
Bastian Schweinsteiger, Memphis Depay, Matteo Darmian and Morgan Schneiderlin are the new faces who promise to strengthen every area of the team, but especially the midfield that lacked so much creativity last season. LVG says most of the predicted starters for the new campaign will play close to 60 minutes against Barça today, which should test how competitive his team can be.
He'll miss Schweinsteiger, though, who had a minor injury on Friday's training session and will sit out. David De Gea, the spectacular Spanish goalkeeper, is back and will feature on Saturday.
Predicted XI (4-2-3-1) - De Gea; Darmian, Jones, Blind, Shaw; Carrick, Schneiderlin; Mata, Depay, Young; Rooney
Barcelona Team News: Luis Enrique's squad still does not have the five Copa America players (Bravo, Alves, Neymar, Mascherano, Messi) who are back in Barcelona training. New signings Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal will not play against United but are in the squad.
Pedro Rodríguez will start against what probably will be his new destination after the UEFA Super Cup. Luis Suárez is having his first preseason with the group, and should start again. Douglas Pereira, who played 90 minutes against the Galaxy, is expected to play one more time, and the Brazilian hopes to build on his good performance and start to turn the doubters around.
Previously: Barcelona fans still remember the magical night of May 28, 2011, when the legendary Pep Team put together one of the best UEFA Champions League Final performances of all time. The midfield of Xavi and Iniesta, Lionel Messi playing the false 9 role, David Villa and Pedro scoring, the spectacular passing and beautiful style of Guardiola's historical team, Eric Abidal lifting the trophy just 10 weeks after beating cancer. Everything came together to make it an unforgettable game, which the Blaugrana won 3-1.
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