It may be preseason but a Clasico is still a Clasico and Real Madrid and Barcelona are facing off in Texas as the two teams prepare for La Liga's regular season to begin next month. Barcelona have had a quiet offseason so far, with no major moves on the books, though recently Ousmane Dembele has been linked with a possible jump to Paris Saint-Germain. The major difference, of course, is that long-time defensive midfielder Sergio Busquets is now gone, having switched to Major League Soccer to reunite with Lionel Messi at Inter Miami. And left back Jordi Alba will likely join them shortly. In Busquets' place, Ilkay Gundogan has arrived from Manchester City.
Real Madrid, on the other hand, have already landed one major offseason target with Jude Bellingham, while Karim Benzema has left, becoming one of the first stars this summer to lace up his boots in the Saudi Pro League. And then, of course, there's the little matter of Kylian Mbappe, who remains a PSG player, but who the club believe has already agreed to join Real Madrid when his contract runs out next summer.
Here's our storylines, how you can watch the match and more:
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How to watch and odds
- Date: Saturday, July 29 | Time: 5 p.m. ET
- Location: AT&T Staadium, Arlington Texas
- Live stream: ESPN+
What to watch for
Real Madrid: In the absence of Benzema and without another big time striker on the roster yet, manager Carlo Ancelotti has experiment4ed with his two young Brazilian wingers, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo playing as strikers with Jude Bellingham as a 10 behind them. That's the lineup he used in a 3-2 win in a friendly against Manchester United, and the formation (albeit without the two wingers starting) he used in a 2-0 victory against AC Milan in the opening match of this tour.
Barcelona: Midfield questions abound for Barcelona. They've played one preseason match so far, a 5-3 loss to Arsenal. In that one Gundogan started in midfield next to new signing Oriol Romeo who played as the most defensive midfielder in the side. It seems unlikely that the journeyman Romeo will be Barcelona's first-choice answer at the base of midfield, so exactly how Barcelona intend to set up remains somewhat of a mystery. Will Saturday night give us any more clues?
Prediction
These preseason friendlies don't tend to offer a lot of defensive resistance, but also don't expect these teams to go lightly against each other. A 2-2 draw would reflect that both these sides are relatively evenly matched, and both are likely still a move or two away from whatever form they will take when the season starts.