Reigning La Liga champions Real Madrid will square off against arch-rivals Barcelona in a highly-anticipated pre-season friendly 2024 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
The Real Madrid vs Barcelona pre-season friendly will start at 4:30 AM IST on Sunday, August 4.
Under the tutelage of manager Carlo Ancelotti, Real Madrid commenced their summer tour of the United States with a 0-1 defeat against Serie A giants AC Milan at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois.
Milan winger Samuel Chukwueze netted the solitary goal of the match in the 55th minute as Madrid lost in their first high-profile encounter since they won the UEFA Champions League 2023-24 final against Borussia Dortmund in June.
Meanwhile, Los Blancos earlier beat fellow Spaniards Albacete 3-0 in their first pre-season 2024 friendly behind closed doors.
Ahead of the much-awaited El Clasico, Carlo Ancelotti’s men will once again miss the services of new signing Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr, Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo as they are on vacation.
On the other hand, Barcelona will head into the El Clasico high on confidence after they defeated Premier League champions Manchester City 4-1 on penalties in their pre-season 2024 opener at the Camping World Stadium.
Earlier, Barcelona and City played out an entertaining 2-2 draw in regulation time in front of a packed Orlando crowd.
Led by newly-appointed manager Hansi Flick, Barcelona took an early courtesy Pau Victor before Nico O'Reilly equallised for City.
While Pablo Torre gave the Catalan giants a 2-1 lead, Jack Grealish later made it 2-2 in the 60th minute.
For Barcelona, the likes of Frenkie de Jong, Pedri, Ronald Araujo and Ansu Fati have been ruled out of the pre-season tour due to injuries.
Furthermore, the Spanish trio of Pau Cubarsi, Fermin Lopez and Eric Garcia will miss the US tour as they are representing Spain at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Real Madrid vs Barcelona head-to-head
The Real Madrid vs Barcelona head-to-head record favours Los Blancos with 105 wins in 257 official El Clasico matches across all competitions. Barcelona have 100 wins while 52 matches have ended in draws.
The last time these two sides met, Real Madrid beat Barcelona 3-2 in a La Liga 2023-24 clash at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid in April 2024.
Where to watch Real Madrid vs Barcelona pre-season friendly 2024 live in India
Live streaming of the Real Madrid vs Barcelona pre-season friendly 2024 will be available on the FanCode app and website in India.
There will be no live telecast of the Real Madrid vs Barcelona pre-season friendly 2024 on any TV channel in India.
Real Madrid vs Barcelona preseason friendly 2024 squads
Real Madrid squad
Goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois, Andriy Lunin, Fran González
Defenders: Eder Miltao, Lucas Vázquez, Jesus Vallejo, Fran García, Antonio Rudiger, Jacobo Ramón, Lorenzo Aguado, Rafa Obrador, Raúl Asencio, Joan Martínez
Midfielders: Luka Modric, Arda Güler, Dani Ceballos, Nico Paz, Mario Martín, Cesar Palacios, Jeremy de León
Attackers: Felipe Endrick, Rodrygo Goes, Vinicius Jr., Brahim Diaz, Juanmi Latasa, Álvaro Rodríguez
Barcelona squad
Goalkeepers: Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Inaki Pena, Ander Astralaga, Diego Kochen
Defenders: Alejandro Balde, Inigo Martinez, Andreas Christensen, Jules Kounde, Julian Araujo, Clement Lenglet, Hector Fort, Alex Valle, Mikayil Faye, Gerard Martin, Andrés Cuenca, Sergi Domínguez, Alexis Olmedo.
Midfielders: Oriol Romeu, Ilkay Gundogan, Pablo Torre, Marc Casado, Unai Hernandez, Marc Bernal, Noah Darvich, Guille Fernández, Quim Junyent
Attackers: Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Vitor Roque, Pau Victor, Toni Fernandez
Photo credit: Imago
