Barcelona are considering extending their pre-season friendly tour of the United States by adding another game to their already packed schedule.
Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo say the aforementioned fixture will most likely be played against David Beckham’s Inter Miami side and will be included anytime in mid-July or late July.
This match will be the first to be played and will be followed by friendlies against Real Madrid, Juventus and Inter Milan. While Barcelona’s plan was to conclude the friendlies between July 21 and July 31, it is believed that the one against Inter Miami may be played before the 21st.
As of today, Barcelona are yet to release the official dates and venue, but the aforementioned source say the games could be played in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Either way, the plan is for Barcelona to complete the pre-season tour in 10-12 days.
Atlantic crossing
It’s been three years since Barcelona last played pre-season friendlies in the United States. In 2019, the team, then playing under Ernesto Valverde, traveled to Miami and Michigan to play two games against Napoli.
This tour was, in fact, the last time the team crossed continental borders for pre-season friendlies. Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought the world to a standstill, forcing planned plans to be postponed.
Three years later, Barcelona will return to the United States where the market is booming and where the team is followed by many fans.
Xavi had doubts
Although the idea is more or less confirmed, it is believed that Xavi had reservations about playing the pre-season games in the United States.
His preference was instead to keep these matches low-key and play them anywhere near neighboring countries like they did last time in Germany.
The idea was quite simple as Xavi only arrived at Barca in the middle of the season and wants to take advantage of the weeks of preparation to start the 2022/23 season well.
