When: 7/23/2017, 2:00PM PDT
Where: Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, CA
Tickets: Buy Here
Jose Mourinho will have a big point to prove as he prepares to lock horns with his former club Real Madrid in a mouth-watering International Champions Cup clash in Santa Clara.
Manchester United have already played a couple of matches on the US spoil and could have an upper hand on the European champions in what is expected to be an openly-contested affair.
Real Madrid
Zinedine Zidane and his Real Madrid squad got back to work with their first training in the United States a week ago and are raring to hit the ground in their first match of the preseason.
The French manager brought most of his first-team stars to Los Angeles with the addition of a couple of low-profile names such as Quezada, Tejero, Achraf, Oscar, Franchu Dani Gomez, and Manu Hernando who will be hoping to make an impression on their manager during preseason in the US. Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, captain Sergio Ramos and Luka Modric are headliners of the roster which is still without its biggest name though. Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo has been granted an extended time off after his Confederations Cup obligations. The Los Blancos biggest star has recently welcomed twins to the world while he has also confirmed his new girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez is pregnant. Amidst all of the positive personal news, Ronaldo shared with his fans the Portuguese star has a court date scheduled for 31 July. Real Madrid will miss their A-lister for both Manchester United and Manchester City fixtures, while he could still make it in time for El Clasico scheduled for 29 July despite the court responsibilities.
Team News
Joining up with his new teammates in Los Angeles on the first day of training was Theo Hernandez, who joined Los Blancos from Atletico Madrid on a six-year contract.
Real Madrid have also announced their second summer signing as Los Blancos wrapped up one of the hottest commodities in Spanish football today – Dani Ceballos from Real Betis. The Spanish Under 21 international is expected to join his new teammates on 21 July.
Manchester United
Premier League giants Manchester United have already played two friendly international matches in Los Angeles which were a perfect opportunity for fans around the world to see the club’s summer acquisitions in action.
Former Everton frontman Romelu Lukaku has most definitely been under the biggest scrutiny on the back of his £90 million move to Manchester United, whereas £30.75 million addition from Benfica Victor Lindelof has also been under the close inspection from the public eye. The Red Devils scored five goals to ease past LA Galaxy in a 5-2 victory before adding another notch to their belt thanks to a 2-1 triumph against Real Salt Lake. The second game of the US tour saw Romelu Lukaku score his first Manchester United goal which will have done wonders to the striker’s confidence ahead of the high-profile International Champions Cup matches. Simultaneously with their on-pitch preparations, the Manchester United backroom are doing their best to secure a couple of more signings during the summer transfer window. Manchester United have been heavily linked with the Croatia international Ivan Perisic, but efforts to land the Inter Milan winger have thus far been unsuccessful. Jose Mourinho wants to land a top-class defensive midfielder and the Red Devils have been linked with moves for Tottenham star Eric Dier and out-of-sorts Chelsea man Nemanja Matic who is thought to be keen on Jose Mourinho reunion.
Team News
Juan Mata and Matteo Darmian suffered knocks against Real Salt Lake but should be fit for the club’s next couple of matches.
Jose Mourinho is expected to shuffle his deck and experiment with both the squad and tactics against his former side.
Conclusion
Real Madrid and Manchester United are the two box office giants and arguably the two biggest names in world football so fans that decide to buy tickets here and come to the Levi’s Stadium will most definitely not be disappointed with the show.
We expect to see a great game with plenty of chances on both ends of the pitch and a hatful of goals.
Verdict: Over 2.5 goals
Best Odds: Will be available in due time on this link
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