Juventus and Barcelona will both get their respective pre-seasons underway when they face-off on Saturday in the International Champions Cup in a repeat of the 2015 UEFA Champions League Final. The game will be played in front of 82,500 fans at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, USA. Kick-off is at 18:00 (6pm) local (US) time or at 23:00 (11pm) GMT. Ivan Rakitic, Luis Suarez and Neymar were the scorers on the 6th of June 2015 as Luis Enrique’s Barca romped to a 3-1 victory over Massimillano Allegri’s Juve in Berlin to lift their 5th Champions League trophy. Saturday’s encounter however will be a totally different affair. Form goes out the window while finding fitness and trialling formations ahead of the new campaign will be at the forefront of the managers minds. The Blaugrana have a new man the helm, Ernesto Valverde, will be taking charge of his first game since joining from Athletic Bilbao. Allegri got his revenge over the now departed Enrique when the two sides clashed once again the Champions League in 2017, in the quarter-finals, on route to guiding The Old Lady to the final where they eventually succumbed to another defeat to Spanish opposition in the form of Real Madrid. He has been busy in the transfer market as he looks to strengthen once again in a bid to claim another Champions League crown which has eluded them now for over 20 years. Fans will look forward to glimpses of new signings such as Douglas Costa and Mehdi Benatia (both from Bayern Munich) and Wojciech Szczesny who joined from Arsenal.
Juventus vs. Barcelona head-to-head In Official Competitions:
Played: 3 Juventus Wins: 1 Draws: 1 Barcelona Wins: 1 Juventus Goals Scored: 4 Barcelona Goals Scored: 3 The two sides did play out a 2-2 draw, which was subsequently won 4-2 on penalties by Juve in a friendly match in The Gamper Trophy in 2005. Andres Iniesta, a scorer that day and the man of the match in their 2015 Champions League victory, the 33-year-old continues to pull the strings from midfield and will be one to watch once again as the veteran looks to offer some guidance to the players from the famed La Masia academy that will no doubt be on show on Saturday. Youngsters Marlon Santos, Adrian Ortola, Jokin Ezkieta and Carles Alena have all been included in the 26-man squad alongside the likes of Sergi Samper and Munir.
Juventus vs Barcelona Previous Matches:
19/04/2017 – Barcelona 0-0 Juventus (Champions League)
11/04/2017 – Juventus 3-0 Barcelona (Champions League)
06/06/2015 – Juventus 1-3 Barcelona (Champions League)
24/08/2005 – Barcelona 2-2 Juventus (Juventus won 4-2 on penalties)*
*indicates pre-season friendly