(Football news) It's been two weeks since Real Madrid have been training in pre-season. Los Blancos will be playing their first pre-season friendly against their familiar foes at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Barcelona have already played 3 matches in which they have defeated A-League All Stars and Inter Miami while they drew against UE Olot. Real Madrid started late because they finished late due to the Champions League final. The Blaugrana will be preparing for their opening La Liga encounter while Real Madrid have a UEFA Super Cup match against Frankfurt coming up.
Real Madrid squad:
Thibaut Courtois, Andriy Lunin, Luis López, Lucas Cañizares, Dani Carvajal, Eder Militão, David Alaba, Jesus Vallejo, Nacho, Antonio Rüdiger, Ferland Mendy, Alvaro Odriozola, Vinicius Tobías, Toni Kroos, Luka Modrić, Casemiro, Fede Valverde, Lucas Vazquez, Aurélien Tchouameni, Dani Ceballos, Eduardo Camavinga, Eden Hazard, Karim Benzema, Marco Asensio, Vinicius Jr., Rodrygo, Mariano and Jaunmi Latasa.
Karim Benzema is unlikely to play a part in the match as joined the pre-season squad late. Borja Mayoral hasn't traveled to the USA yet due to visa and vaccination issues but he will be joining later. The pre-season will be very important for B team players like Vinicius Tobias and Latasa who will be looking to make an impact to become first team regulars. Carlo Ancelotti is likely to try out a number of different systems to figure things out. Reinier Jesus, Antonio Blanco, Rafa Marín weren't selected in the squad by Carlo Ancelotti. Despite being at Real Madrid for 3 seasons Hazard is yet to play a Clasico and he will be making his debut in the legendary fixture even though it is in a friendly. There have been reports of Dani Carvajal and Ferland Mendy suffering minor injuries in training therefore they might not play a part in the match.
Barcelona squad:
Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Sergino Dest, Gerard Pique, Ronald Araujo, Sergio Busquets, Ousmane Dembele, Pedri, Memphis Depay, Ansu Fati, Nico, Jordi Alba, Ferran Torres, Sergi Roberto, Frenkie de Jong, Eric Garcia, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Gavi, Inaki Pena, Miralem Pjanic, Alan Collado, Franck Kessie, Andreas Christensen, Raphinha, Arnau Tenas, Pablo Torre, Alejandro Balde, Abde Ezzalzouli, Marc Casado, Robert Lewandowski.
Barcelona's new signings will be looking to make an impact in this particular fixture. Memphis Depay and Frenkie De Jong are in the squad despite rumours of Barcelona wanting to get rid of them. Tenas, Torre, Balde, Ezzalzouli, Casado, Collado will be looking to impress Xavi and find a place in the first team once the season starts. Despite all these signings the Catalan club will be using these sets of matches to figure out what they are missing as a squad.
No El Clasico can ever be friendly due to the history and rivalry between the two clubs. There will always be that intensity and expectations but at the same time winning will not be a priority for either of these teams or coaches. Getting their fitness and rhythm up to speed will be a priority. They will be trying out at least 15-20 players in the match to give everyone an opportunity.
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