As Barcelona and Real Madrid meet for the preseason El Clasico, this marks the debut for Hansi Flick in the legendary rivalry. Flick joined Barcelona after they parted ways with Xavi Hernandez in the summer and will now embark on the biggest managerial job of his career with high expectations.
After winning La Liga last season, Real Madrid strengthened their squad by adding Kylian Mbappe, which could create an even bigger gap between them and their rivals. Although Mbappe will not be in this match, his presence in the squad now raises the stakes of this encounter, despite it being only a friendly.
Here are our storylines, how to watch the match and more:
How to watch and odds
- Date: Saturday August 3 | Time: 7:00 PM ET
- Place: MetLife Stadium – East Rutherford, New Jersey
- TV: None | Live stream: ESPN+
- Chances: Barcelona +145; Sign +270; Real Madrid+145
Storylines
Barcelona: With the majority of the first-team squad available for this match, this is a great opportunity for Flick to test the squad against the best opponents. It doesn’t get much bigger than the showdown against Real Madrid, even though it is a friendly match that provides great learning opportunities for younger players who might not participate in the regular season version of this rivalry match.
Real Madrid: Unlike Barcelona, Real Madrid has a large part of its squad yet to start pre-season, but it still gives the team a chance to show what they can do against stars like Robert Lewandowski. It is especially big for Endrick, who has big expectations for Los Blancos despite his age. This may be the deepest side of the world and El Clasico is a chance to show it.
Prediction
The result may not matter, but when bitter rivals meet, they don’t want to drop a match even in preseason. Choose: Barcelona1, Real Madrid2
