Ah, the International Champions Cup. Pride of the pre-season schedule for numerous European clubs, and an honor for MLS and Liga MX sides to participate in. Or something. Really, it’s a friendly tournament with a bunch of big-name clubs in it with a cool-sounding name, though such an event isn’t totally without value.
Barcelona vs. LA Galaxy 2015: Time, TV schedule and how to watch International Champions Cup online
The European treble winners are taking on the champions of MLS, including new legendary new signing Steven Gerrard.
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This will be Barcelona’s first match of the pre-season, and their first since securing a European Treble when they won the Champions League final against Juventus at the end of this past season, adding that significant honor to a La Liga and Copa del Rey domestic double. Interestingly, Barcelona have never won this competition before, giving them a chance to add a new piece of silverware to the already-full trophy room back at the Camp Nou.
This will likely be a highly experimental match for both sides -- Barcelona are without several starters and a key reserve is about to be sold, so a number of different faces will be in their lineup, giving Luis Enrique a chance to play with his depth and tinker with guys in different roles than normal. For the defending MLS champion LA Galaxy, Bruce Arena is still trying to figure out how to best utilize new star signing Steven Gerrard, so expect to see him get plenty of time on the pitch despite the essentially-meaningless nature of the match.
How close to a first team do Barcelona have?
Not very. Five regular starters, including both Lionel Messi and Neymar, are both still vacationing after participating in the Copa America tournament in South America that just ended a little over two weeks ago. Both of their new signings this summer -- Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal -- are ineligible to play because of Barcelona's registration ban. Since this is their first match of the summer, Barcelona will likely run out a somewhat strong side, but will also give plenty of minutes to guys who would normally be backups or rotational players.
What are the chances the LA Galaxy get trounced?
Very, very high. Even with a team of all backups, Barcelona are still incredibly good. That’s not a knock on the Galaxy by any means, it’s just that Barcelona are probably the best team in the world right now and have absolutely ridiculous depth. The Galaxy’s only saving grace is that this is Barcelona’s first match while the MLS team is in mid-season form, but with this big a talent gulf, that only means so much.
Fun Barcelona fringe player to watch: Sergi Roberto
The 23 year old Spaniard hasn’t played many minutes in Barcelona’s first team yet, but he oozes talent and class every time he steps onto the pitch. Roberto will be playing a bigger role for Barca in the wake of Xavi’s departure from the team, and
Compared to other friendlies, is this worth my time?
Watching Barcelona is often fun, so yes, especially since they’re likely to be doing different things than we usually see from them in this match. Galaxy fans may or may not enjoy the match, but should still tune in to see how well Gerrard does while continuing to bed in and adapt to his new team.
Match date/time: Tuesday, 11 p.m. ET, 8 p.m. local
Venue: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California
TV: FOX Sports 1 (U.S. - English), FOX Deportes, (U.S. - Spanish)
Online: FOX Sports Go, FOX Soccer 2 Go (U.S.)
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