Barcelona to play U.S. friendly one day after La Liga fixture next month

BARCELONA, SPAIN - NOVEMBER 12: Players of FC Barcelona line up for a team photo prior the LaLiga EA Sports match between FC Barcelona and Deportivo Alaves at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on November 12, 2023, in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo By Ricardo Larreina/Europa Press via Getty Images)
By Pol Ballús
Nov 17, 2023

Barcelona will play a friendly against Club America in Dallas on December 21, one day after their La Liga fixture against Almeria.

The Spanish side confirmed on their website that immediately after their home fixture against Almeria, the team will be heading to the U.S., where they will face Club America at the Cotton Bowl Stadium.

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Club sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed the friendly is expected to raise around €5million (£4.4m, $5.5m).

Barcelona faced Juventus at the Cotton Bowl — which hosted games at the 1994 U.S. World Cup — in the summer of 2022, with two goals each from Ousmane Dembele and Moise Kean sealing a 2-2 draw.

The game will mark Barcelona’s return to the U.S. for the first time since their testing pre-season tour earlier this year, where players falling sick with gastroenteritis resulted in the cancellation of their first match, travel delays meant training sessions were missed and weather conditions (temperatures exceeding 40C/104F in Dallas and Las Vegas) also proved to be an issue.

Xavi’s Barcelona side are third in La Liga, four points behind leaders Girona, while Club America are seven points clear at the top of Liga MX.

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(Photo: Getty Images)

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Pol Ballús

Pol joined The Athletic in 2021, initially moving to Manchester to assist us with our Manchester City, Manchester United and Spanish reporting. Since 2015 he has been an English football correspondent for multiple Spanish media, such as Diario Sport and RAC1 radio station. He has also worked for The Times. In 2019, he co-wrote the book Pep’s City: The Making of a Superteam. He will now move back to Spain, covering FC Barcelona for The Athletic. Follow Pol on Twitter @polballus