Following an intense forthnight of preparations at Real Madrid City and the facilities at UCLA, the defending European and LaLiga champions were set for the first run-out of the pre-season campaign. Las Vegas's Allegiant Stadium will provide the setting as Real Madrid pit their wits against Barcelona in the team's Soccer Champions Tour opener.
El Clásico will give our boys the chance to get up to speed in a match scenario. Carlo Ancelotti's charges will be aiming to record a win prior to the next two pre-season tests, against Club América and Juventus. The aim is to ensure that the players head into the 2022/23 campaign, which kicks off on 10 August with the UEFA Super Cup against Eintracht Frankfurt in Helsinki, in the best possible shape.
The squad will make their Soccer Champions Tour bow at the Allegiant Stadium. It'll be the second time in the club's history that the team contest a game in Las Vegas following on from a visit in the 2012/13 pre-season campaign. This match-up is an attractive fixture, given that, as well as enjoying an El Clásico showdown, fans will be able to see Antonio Rüdiger and Aurélien Tchouameni get their first taste of action in Real Madrid colours.
After the preparation, The Whites, who will go head-to-head with Barcelona in the first clash of the Soccer Champions Tour, departed Los Angeles airport for Las Vegas, where they landed after a flight lasting less than one hour. From there, the Madrid contingent travelled to the Four Seasons Las Vegas hotel, where the players will stay until shortly before the Clásico, which will be played at the Allegiant Stadium (Sunday, 5:00 am CET, Saturday 8:00 pm local time). In Vegas, the team was greeted by many supporters.
The Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas is the venue for Real Madrid’s first match of the pre-season, when the Whites will go head-to-head against Barcelona in the Clásico (Sunday 5:00 am CET, 8:00 pm local time). This will be the first time that the team has played at this stadium, which was built in 2020 and is the home of the Raiders in the NFL and the UNLV Rebels in the NCAA.
This technologically advanced venue can hold up to 65,000 spectators. It stages concerts and special sporting events, including the 2021 Gold Cup final, in which the United States beat Mexico. Real Madrid previously visited Las Vegas during the 2012/13 pre-season tour. On that occasion they went to Sam Boyd Stadium, where they overcame Santos Laguna.
After the arrival and the accommodation, Carlo Ancelotti announced his squad for the Clásico, the first match of the Soccer Champions Tour, to be played at the Allegiant Stadium (Sunday, 5:00 am CET, Saturday 8:00 pm local time).
Real Madrid Squad is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Courtois, Lunin, Luis López, Lucas Cañizares.
Defenders: E. Militão, Alaba, Vallejo, Nacho, Rüdiger, Mendy, Odriozola, Tobías.
Midfielders: Kroos, Modrić, Casemiro, Valverde, Lucas V., Tchouameni, D. Ceballos, Camavinga.
Forwards: Hazard, Asensio, Vini Jr., Rodrygo, Mariano, Latasa.
In their first outing of note since getting the better of Liverpool in the Champions League final, Carlo Ancelotti’s troops made the trip to Nevada, for the friendly showdown with arch rivals Barcelona. Real’s preparations for the Clasico, though, have not been without their challenges.
Amid the club’s US training camp, fitness issues have ravaged the club’s squad. Both Karim Benzema and Dani Carvajal have been forced onto the treatment table this week, in a bid to recover from niggling injury woes. And such concerns were added to on Friday, upon summer signing Antonio Rudiger needlessly lunging in on Eden Hazard during a training drill, forcing the Belgian into a premature departure from the session.
In turn, now, as alluded to above, an update on the wellbeing of all three players has been forthcoming online. The info comes courtesy of Real themselves, who, in a post across the club’s social media platforms, have confirmed that Hazard has been included in Ancelotti’s squad to face Barcelona. Both Benzema and Carvajal, though, are set to miss out as the coach does not want to take any risk on them.
Squad comparison
For Los Blancos, this will be the first game of the 2022/23 pre-season, while Barcelona have already played a couple of friendlies. Ahead of this Clasico, new Barcelona signing Raphinha has claimed that his team are superior to Real Madrid. Let's, then, compare the two teams' squads.
Summer Signings
Real Madrid were in pursuit of Kylian Mbappe, who decided to stay put at Paris Saint-Germain. After the Frenchman turned Los Blancos down, the LaLiga Santander champions strengthened their defence and midfield by signing Antonio Rudiger and Aurelien Tchouameni, respectively. The former arrived on a free transfer, after departing Chelsea, and the latter joined from Monaco in exchange for 80 million euros.
As for Barcelona, the Catalans have been very active in the transfer window, having already spent 105m euros to sign Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski, Andreas Christensen, Franck Kessie and Pablo Torre. Real Madrid's squad value is set at 843.5m euros, while Barcelona's value is currently set at 771.20m euros. Los Blancos have the fifth most valuable squad in Europe, with the Blaugrana sitting seventh in that list.
The Defensive Line
Currently considered as the finest goalkeeper in Europe, Thibaut Courtois will be in goal for Los Blancos next season. Meanwhile, Rudiger was added to a strong central defence that already consisted of Eder Militao, David Alaba and Nacho Fernandez.
As for Barcelona, they still need to sign a centre-back, with Jules Kounde and Inigo Martinez on their radar. Real Madrid also look superior at both right-back and left-back, where Dani Carvajal and Ferland Mendy featured last season. The Blaugrana are still in search of a starting right-back, while Jordi Alba is an undisputed starter on the left-hand side.
The Midfield
Real Madrid have more depth here, possessing six top players: Casemiro, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Tchouameni, Eduardo Camavinga and Fede Valverde. They have Dani Ceballos too, even if his future is still a little uncertain. Barcelona, on the other hand, seem weaker in this area, with Sergio Busquets, Pedri, Torre, Sergi Roberto, Gavi and Frenkie de Jong competing for three spots. All six are similar players and only Kessie could offer something different to the team.
The Offensive Line
Karim Benzema and Vinicius formed one of the best attacking duos in Europe last season and will look to link up well again this term. At the Camp Nou, Lewandowski and Ansu Fati are expected to be undisputed starters in what could become an extraordinary attacking partnership for the Blaugrana.
As for the rest, Barcelona seem to have more depth, as Ferran Torres, Ousmane Dembele, Raphinha and Pierre-Emerick Aubamenyang could offer Xavi more options in the final third than what Rodrygo, Marco Asensio and Eden Hazard might provide Real Madrid with.
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