04 August 2018
TOPPING THE ALL-STARS
Last time out the Bianconeri defeated the crop of Major League Soccer’s best players, as they beat the MLS All-Stars 5-3 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in normal time at a sold-out Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
The Old Lady struck early on after 21 minutes with Andrea Favili scoring his third goal on tour, as Matheus Pereira swung in a cross from the left-hand side that the young forward nodded home past goalkeeper, Brad Guzan. The MLS All-Stars responded after just five minutes however, when Atlanta United forward Josef Martinez was on hand to turn the ball in following a scramble in the Juve box.
Despite both sides having chances to win it the game went to penalty kicks for the second consecutive pre-season match. Juventus scored a perfect five penalties to the All-Stars three, with Mattia De Sciglio netting the decider after Bradley Wright-Philips had missed his previous.
REAL RINGING THE CHANGES
It’s been a summer of change for Real Madrid, following the exit of manager Zinedine Zidane and the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus. The new man in charge is former Spain coach, Julen Lopetegui who previously had a spell at the club in his playing days from 1988-1991.
In terms of recruitment, Los Blancos have appear to have put an emphasis on youth with the club signing young Spanish right-back, Alvaro Odriozola from Real Sociedad, 19-year-old goalkeeper and Ukrainian international, Andriy Lunin from Zorya Lukhansk and Brazilian midfielder, Vinicius Junior from Flamengo.
STADIUM STATS & FACTS
Vs: Real Madrid (Saturday 4 August, 18:05 EDT local; Sunday 5 August 00:05 CEST)
Where: FedExField, Landover, Maryland
Capacity: 82,000
Home team: Washington Redskins (NFL)
About: The stadium was first opened in 1997 in its first incarnation as the Jack Kent Cooke Stadium in honour of the Redskins owner and as a replacement venue for team. FedEx bought the naming rights to the stadium in 1999 and over the years the arena has undergone a number of modifications in order to modernise it for the current era. In addition to having the Washington Redskins as permanent tenants, the stadium also hosts the annual college football tournament, the Prince George’s Classic.
FedExField has hosted both the men’s and women’s United States national soccer teams, whilst Argentina and Spain have also played matches there, in addition to high-profile friendlies featuring Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United.
