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Barcelona to face Red Bulls on Aug. 7 (for real this time)

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Remember that Barcelona-Red Bulls friendly I told you about last month? Well, it is definitely happening. Yes, I’m serious and no, Real Madrid won’t be swooping in to take Barca’s place.

The Red Bulls will face FC Barcelona on Aug. 7 at Giants Stadium. If you recall, the Red Bulls schedule was a bit congested for that match. Things have changed a bit since then. The New England game the weekend before Aug. 7 has been changed and the Aug. 9 match against D.C. United has been moved to Sunday, Aug. 10 to accomodate the Barcelona friendly.

SBI reported back on Feb. 22 that this match would take place, but after some back and forth between the clubs, and a discussion with Real Madrid about playing them, the match appeared in doubt. The Red Bulls eventually reached an agreement and an official announcement regarding the friendly should be released shortly..

I know I asked this the last time around, but I’ll ask again. What do you think of Barcelona returning to Giants Stadium? Is it too soon after the last appearance? Is it fair to say you can’t see players like Ronaldinho, Henry and Messi often enough? Share your thoughts on the match below.

Comments

  1. tony

    my comment was not intended toward Europeans only but the “Eurosnobs” who refuse to respect or support MLS. If everyone only went to see the Rolling Stones and U2 there wouldn’t be much of a local music scene, either…if you catch my drift. The same for futbol/soccer. If you don’t support the sport locally, the chances of it flourishing locally are lower. And, in MLS you will see some good players–not of Barca level, obviously–and some good competition–much better than when the league began in 1996.

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  2. big teams like barca & real madrid should come all the time. i can’t get enough of it. it is like giving american fans hope, that one day we can have this level of soccer played in our country.

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  3. big teams like barca & real madrid should come all the time. i can’t get enough of it. it is like giving american fans hope, that one day we can have this level of soccer played in our country.

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  4. I attended the last RB-Barca game and it was everything one could hope soccer in America will be, and in these kinds of circumstances, is already. A packed stadium filled with jersey-wearing fans gasping in unison everytime Ronaldinho and Messi, who was the clear favorite, touched the ball. A solid effort from all the Barca stars, and a 4-1 result that seemed about right. Sold out merchandise stands. Even the traffic was appropriately horrific. Games like this continue to prove that Americans will attend matches with top international stars in droves, so lets hope that MLS quickly loosens the purse strings. In the meantime, don’t miss out on events like this.

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  5. I cant wait, I am looking to bring my U14 boys team down so they can see the big names in Henry, Ronaldinho, and Messi. I took them to the RBNY v NER play-off game and we all know how that went. I dont think you could get enough of Barcelona coming to the US. I would love to see Bayern Munchen back in NY again. I would drop everything to see Ribery, Toni, Klose, and others on the team live.

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  6. bryan

    uhh……… yeah! all these barça players worked hard to be where they are at. And if the europeans don’t go watch the MLS games its probably because they don’t like any players from any of the teams. deal with it. stop whining and don’t go watch it.

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  7. How will the tickets be handled? I have a four game partial season ticket plan. Will I be able to buy tickets before the public?

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  8. I kinda wonder what type of team Barca will have by that day. In general their season (along with last season) is being looked at as a dissapointment and in all likelyhood there will be a number of changes to the team in the offseason. Which of the current group of stars will still be around? Ronaldinho? Deco? Eto’o? Henry? I think Messi is pretty much guaranteed to still be with them (though could be with Argentina on that day), as well as Poyul (and most likely Eto’o), but I don’t think there’re too many other players on the squad who you could say were “untouchable”. Lots of talk about a new coach after this season and with that will be a new idea of how the team will play and what type of players the team will need. Most likely a big name or two will be sold to make way for (or get money for the purchase of) new players.

    Whatever the case may be, the team will of course be stacked full of talent. And then again the season’s not over yet, so its possible that they could win the CL, Real Madrid could collapse and Barca make a run to win La Liga, the front office is happy again, and everyone on the team comes back after all. But most likely there will be a number of changes in the off season. Just don’t want people getting their hopes up about seeing a particular player, and then getting upset if that player gets sold. Get excited because its Barca.

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  9. So–for the price of three or four league games I can sit in backed-up traffic for an hour, consort with white-wine sipping Eurosnobs who’ll never lower themselves to go to an MLS match, and watch some superstars play at half-speed? Where do I sign up?

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  10. It’s never too soon to watch teams like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Man U, Arsenal, Chelsea, etc. You can’t see these teams enough (assuming the stars show and put in efforts)

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  11. Saw Barca for the first time in 2006 at the LA Coliseum vs. Chivas de Guadalajara and it was an experience I’ll never forget.

    I’d like to go to this match and probably would only that I’m giving my freedom away the next day in Minnesota. (haha.)

    Awesome to hear Barca taking another trip to the States, at least. I’ll TIVO it while I’m sweating bullets about my big moment the next day.

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  12. Pathetic. The New York Energy Drinks get Messi and Henry and here in Toronto we get Freddy Ljunberg and Nobby Solano from West Ham for the All Star Game.

    This shows tangibly how bad a pick West Ham is for a showcase game for MLS.

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  13. Tony,

    Of course Barcelona is a better opponent, and of course there are HUNDREDS of better choices. And I’m sure I sound whiny, but its just annoying to hear the team bashed when all they did was say “yes” to an offer that MLS made them. If people bashed MLS instead of picking apart the Hammers it would be less frustrating.

    Having said that, I can’t wait til the game is over so I can stop reading the uncessary crap spewed at them unfairly.

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  14. The more anyone whines about West Ham bashing, the more people are going to point out what a disappointing and awful choice they are for the all star game. Better to ignore it than give us a reason to remind you of their mediocrity.

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  15. No Messi won’t Duglife. Word out of Argentina is that Barca won’t be releasing Messi for the Olympics. Would you given his injuries?

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  16. Ummm, danny? I know you’re a Ham and Egger, but you do admit Barcelona ranks a little higher on the glitterati scale, no?

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  17. Two games in four days isn’t that drastic, particularly when the Red Bulls will have a bye the weekend before the Barcelona game.

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  18. I think D.C. has too many important games, especially with CONCACAF, SuperLiga and others. To ad more exhibition games for them would risk fatigue and injury for a playoff run..Although I would love to see a D.C. United vs. Bayern Munich exhibition.

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  19. I have a question. With the Barca game and D.C. game now happening in a four day span, should we expect a less than full effort on the Red Bulls part? I would hope that if the choice has to be made RBNY puts the focus on the actually league game against a huge rival. Is it possible that the Red Bulls can field two strong effective teams in that short span?

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  20. I’m excited to see Barca again, haven’t seen Henry live yet so that should be cool. It really sucks that neither the D.C. match nor the Barca match could be on a Saturday though.

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  21. Can’t wait til the All-Star game is over so I don’t have to hear anymore West Ham bashing. Jesus.

    Its the the game MLS chose, move on people.

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