CARSON, Calif. – The LA Galaxy will get receive a unique test on Tuesday when they face off against Spanish giants FC Barcelona on Tuesday in an International Champions Cup match in front of a capacity crowd of more than 90,000 at the historic Rose Bowl Stadium.
PARKING:Click here to get parking info
FC Barcelona arrive in Southern California at the start of their preseason preparations, and will do so without Lionel Messi and Neymar who will not take part in Tuesday’s match due to their participation in the 2015 Copa America. Meanwhile, the Galaxy enter the game on short rest after a 5-2 thumping of the San Jose Earthquakes last Friday.
Although Barcelona will be without several of their biggest stars, Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena believes that it is still a “special” match for the Galaxy.
“We’re playing the best club team in the world. Last week, we played the best club team in North America so you can’t complain about that,” Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena said. “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.”
While Messi and Neymar will miss out on Tuesday’s match, the reigning UEFA Champions League winners still boast a squad that includes Uruguayan superstar Luis Suarez and Spanish playmaker Andres Iniesta.
The prospect of testing his defense against a striker like Suarez is particularly tantalizing for Arena who considers the Uruguayan one of the world’s best.
“He's one of the top players in the world. He's in anybody's conversation,” Arena said about the South American striker. “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.”
Fans will pack the Rose Bowl for their chance to watch the world’s finest team but they’re not the only ones who are eager to see Barça. For the Galaxy’s very own Spanish product Ignacio Maganto, who grew up a fan of Barcelona’s archrivals Real Madrid, the match carries a bit more significance.
“A game like this is exciting. I’m no Barcelona fan but at the end, I’m a fan of their style of play so it’ll be a special day,” Maganto said. “Everyone is going to be watching this game in Spain. My family has told me to enjoy the game, and beat Barcelona. I’m a Real Madrid so it’d feel pretty good to beat Barcelona.”
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog at LAGalaxy.com/Insider and contact him at LAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com
