PREVIEW: New York Red Bulls v FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona’s US tour draws to a close at 7.00pm Saturday in New York (1.00am CEST on Sunday morning back home in Barcelona), with a game against the New York Red Bulls at the Red Bull Arena, New Jersey.
Following wins against Inter Miami in Fort Lauderdale (6-0) and Real Madrid in Las Vegas (1-0), a then a draw with Juventus in Dallas (2-2), this game brings down the curtain on almost a fortnight in North America, after which there is just the Joan Gamper match with Pumas of Mexico to go before the new Liga season kicks in.
The Opposition
Created as the New York/New Jersey MetroStars to play in the inaugural season of Major League Soccer in 1996, the Austrian energy drinks firm took over the club in 2006.
Although they have won the Supporters’ Shield for the best regular season record on three occasions (2013, 2015 and 2018), the Red Bulls have never been outright MLS champions. The closest they came was in 2008, when they lost the final to the Columbus Crew.
Last season they went out to Philadelphia Union in the opening round of the end-of-season playoffs.
In 2022, and after 22 games, they are comfortably poised in third place in the Eastern Conference, with the fifth best record overall in the championship.
Managed by Austrian Gerhard Struber, they are an exceptionally young side, and only Aaron Long (27 caps for the USA) and Cristian Cásseres (16 for Venezuela) have extensive experience at international level.
Head to head
This the third time that Barça have played the Red Bulls. The first was just after they had acquired their new name in 2006, with Barça winning 4-1, with goals from Ronaldinho (2, pictured below during the game), Leo Messi and Javier Saviola.
Two years later they met again in another big victory for the Catalans, this time 6-2 with goals from Xavi (now the Barça manager), Samuel Eto’o (2), Rafa Márquez (now coaching the reserve team), Jeffren and Pedro.
Both those games were played at the Giants Stadium.
Barça’s last visit to New York was in 2017, when they beat Juventus 2-1 at the new home of the Giants and the Jets in the NFL, the MetLife Stadium.
The venue
This will be Barça’s first game at the 25,000 capacity soccer-specific stadium that opened in 2010 and is shared by the Red Bulls and women’s team NJ/NY Gotham FC (some of whose players visited a Barça training session this week).
The ground is not located within the confines of New York City itself, but on the waterfront of Harrison, New Jersey.
What they're saying
Coach Xavi Hernández spoke to the press ahead of the game: