MATCH PREVIEW: El Clásico Showdown in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, Nevada — It is the Entertainment Capital of the World, the home to gambling meccas like Caesars Palace and The Bellagio, and over the decades it has been center stage for a panoply of show business performers from singers like Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra to magicians like David Copperfield. But for all the glamour and glitz, the endless bright neon signage, and the can’t miss extravaganzas that bring millions of people all the way out to the middle of the Mojave Desert, there is one world-famous spectacle that Las Vegas has never witnessed before: El Clásico.

That an El Clásico friendly is an oxymoron is old news. Preseason or not, whoever cracks the starting XI and whichever players take the field after the inevitable tidal wave of second half substitutions will undoubtedly be playing for keeps. That's because every encounter between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, regardless of the competition in which it is played, has one common denominator at stake — pride. 

Saturday’s clash with Los Blancos will be Barça’s third preseason friendly and the second on their 2022 summer tour in the United States. The Catalans unceremoniously vanquished Inter Miami with an impressive 6-0 win on Tuesday in South Florida, but were playing without the presence of Robert Lewandowski, their newest signing and the two-time reigning European Golden shoe winner — and the current holder of the FIFA The Best award — who joined the team in Fort Lauderdale and could make his Barça debut against Los Madridistas. 

Also present will be the brains and chief strategist of the blaugrana outfit, manager Xavi Hernández, who overcame visa issues to join the team five days into the tour — he missed the Inter Miami match — but will lead his men into battle against their eternal rivals.

Kickoff is set for Saturday at 8pm PDT (5am CEST in Barcelona) at Allegiant Stadium, the two-year old domed jewel that is the home of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders. Tickets for the match are sold out. 

It is the second of four matches scheduled for Barça on American soil this summer. After Las Vegas, the Catalans will face Juventus in Dallas and the New York Red Bulls in New York.