PREVIEW: FC Barcelona v Juventus
Following wins over Inter Miami in Fort Lauderdale, and Real Madrid in Las Vegas, FC Barcelona are looking to make it three wins out of three on their summer tour of the USA as they take on Italian giants Juventus at the Cotton Bowl, Dallas.
It’s a Tuesday, 7.30pm start in The Big D, which equates to 2.30am Wednesday for viewers back in Barcelona.
The venue
This is only the second time that Barça have appeared in Dallas. The only previous visit was on 6 August 2011 for a friendly with Club América from Mexico City, with the Catalans winning 2-0 with goals from David Villa and Seidou Keita.
That game was played at the Cowboys Stadium (now called the AT&T Stadium for commercial reasons), home of the NFL team of the same name, while eleven years later they’ll be gracing the 92,100 capacity Cotton Bowl, a ground used over the years by different college and NFL football teams and which hosted games at the 1994 World Cup.
Juventus
After an incredible run of nine consecutive Serie A titles from 2012 to 2020, for the second year in a row Juve failed to finish in the top three last season, with AC Milan claiming the Italian title.
This summer has seen a lot of changes. Massimiliano Allegri is still in charge, but there’s no more Paulo Dybala (to Roma), Federico Bernardeschi (Toronto), Matthijs de Ligt (Bayern), Giorgio Chiellini (Los Angeles) or Álvaro Morata (Atlético Madrid), who have all parted company with the Old Lady of Turin.
Players coming in include the returning Paul Pogba (from Man United, but missing this game through injury), Angel di Maria (PSG), Federico Gatti (Frosinone) and Brazilian defender Gleison Bremer (Torino).
Just like Barça, Juventus are arriving in Dallas following a game at the Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas. The Italians opened their American tour by beating Chivas Guadalajara of Mexico 2-0 (before flying out they thumped fourth tier Pinerolo 9-0 in a warm-up match).
They’ll be completing their US tour with a game against Real Madrid in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, Barça will be heading east to complete their stateside experience at the home of the New York Red Bulls on Saturday (Sunday morning back in Europe).
Past friendlies
This is the seventh time that Barça and Juventus have met in a preseason friendly, and no fewer than the fifth time that they have met in the United States. The other two meetings were at the Joan Gamper Trophy in Barcelona. Barça did lose the 2005 game on penalties, but have not lost any of their friendlies with Juventus in regulation time.
1969: Barça 3-2 Juventus (New York)
1969: Barça 1-0 Juventus (New York)
2003: Barça 2-2 Juventus (Boston)
2005: Barça 2-2 Juventus (Camp Nou)
2017: Barça 2-1 Juventus (East Rutherford)
2021: Barça 3-0 Juventus (Camp Nou, see video below)
Barça team news
The only member of Xavi’s travelling party who is unavailable is Ferran Torres, who has picked up a foot injury.
Here are the coach and Barça's star summer signing Robert Lewandowski with their views ahead of the game: