AS Roma vs PSG / Image via Soccernews.com
When: 7/19/2017, 8:00PM EDT
Where: Comerica Park, Detroit, MI
Tickets: Buy Here
Highly-anticipated 2017 edition of the International Champions Cup will see fifteen of the world’s biggest clubs come head-to-head in three different countries this summer.
French giants Paris Saint-Germain are the first ones to hit the stage with their mouth-watering clash against Serie A giants AS Roma in Detroit.
AS Roma
The start of a new era at AS Roma was marked with the arrival of Sevilla’s transfer guru Monchi, who was appointed sporting director at Giallorossi.
Heading into the new season without legendary captain Francesco Totti who is set to choose between Tokyo Verdy or a return to Giallorossi in a director’s role at the three-time Serie A champions. Having finished the Serie A season as runners-up behind Juventus, Giallorossi are having big summer plans as they look to rebuild their squad and attempt to challenge Bianconeri for the coveted domestic trophy. With Luciano Spalletti officially at Inter Milan helm, AS Roma appointed Eusebio Di Francesco as their new boss, whereas their squad roster suffered a couple of changes as well. Highly-rated German defender Antonio Rudiger left AS Roma for the Premier League champions Chelsea, leaving the likes of Kevin Strootman and the majority of the club’s fans disappointed and disillusioned by the club’s ambitions. Monchi, however, is working hard to fill all the gaps and has already made moves for Schalke defender Matija Nastasic who is expected to come as a direct replacement for Rudiger. The Serbian international Nastasic is no stranger to Serie A having already played in Italy for Fiorentina and is expected to be an instant fit in Giallorossi squad. In addition to Rudiger, AS Roma are left without winger Mohamed Salah, who joined Liverpool. The biggest question mark remains hovering over Radja Nainggolan, whose possible departure would be a major blow to AS Roma’s chances of fighting for major honours next term.
Team News
Monchi’s touch is already visible at AS Roma however, with former Sevilla sporting director having already wrapped up the signings of Federico Fazio, Hector Moreno, Juan Jesus, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Bruno Peres, Rick Karsdorp, Mario Rui and Olympique Lyon star Maxime Gonalons.
With their eye on several other possible arrivals, AS Roma are expected to give their new arrivals a chance to gain fitness and fit in the new surroundings at the International Champions Cup.
Paris Saint-Germain
Ligue 1 hot-shots Paris Saint-Germain managed to restore some of their pride after an utterly disappointing 2016/17 season with their record 11th Coupe de France trophy and will be keen to kick off the preparations for the new season on a high note.
Having been given enough time by their manager Unai Emery to rest and recharge their batteries, PSG players were due to report back for training on 4 July, whereas the team’s biggest stars such as Marco Verratti and Edinson Cavani are yet to report for duty. Les Parisiens are going through a ten0-day training period before hitting the US ground where they will take part in the International Champions Cup. PSG have kicked off their summer on a high, with club’s Qatari owners replacing Olivier Letang as sporting director with former FC Porto expert Antero Henrique, while the club also parted ways with director of football Patrick Kluivert. Having successfully wrapped up a contract extension for Marquinhos, PSG faced a much more difficult task of holding on to their key man Marco Verratti. The Italian midfield maestro was linked with a move to Barcelona with his agent commenting that Verratti was himself looking for a move away from Paris, which forced the player to come forward and deny such claims.
Team News
The Paris giants are working hard on bolstering their squads for the next season and have already secured the signature of left-back Yuri Berchiche who arrived on a €16 million transfer from Real Sociedad.
PSG are far from being done in the market however and are currently linked with the likes of Dani Alves, Liverpool maestro Philippe Coutinho and AS Monaco starlet Kylian Mbappe.
Conclusion
AS Roma and Paris Saint-Germain are expected to play an openly-contested match with both managers keen to test as many options as possible. The first International Champions Cup match will be a great opportunity for the United States fans to see some of the biggest stars in action, so they are warmly advised to grab their tickets for this highly anticipated match right here.
Verdict: Both teams to score
Best Odds: 8/13
Bookmaker: Bet365
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