Juventus vs Barcelona
Football games between these two are always worth the admission money – even if you can read little into a pre-season friendly.
However, ‘friendly’ may be a loose term sports betting fans, given there could well be one side determined to gain a modicum of revenge in New Jersey.
Three months may have passed but wounds such as the one Juventus inflicted on Barcelona in April take time to heal.
For that is when Juve ran out convincing 3-0 winners over Barca in the Champions League quarter-finals to send the Catalans abruptly packing.
That arch rivals Real Madrid then went onto defeat the Italians in the final after pipping them to the La Liga title merely added insult to injury.
From that moment, the cracks were clear in the Barcelona squad, even if they did save their season by retaining the Copa del Rey.
Now as both sides prepare to meet again they are both dealing with unexpected transfer market hassles.
The loss of Leonardo Bonucci to AC Milan was as brutal as it was unexpected and has rocked the Turin club, while the departure of Dani Alves means the Italians potentially have some defensive rebuilding work ahead.
And if reports linking Paulo Dybla – who scored twice against Barca last season – with a move to Catalonia were true, then Juventus fans should be pleased the supposed 95 million euros offer was rejected.
The Bianconeri can ill afford to lose another of their prized assets, even if they have brought in four players, including Douglas Costa.
Likewise, Barcelona have not had much joy, as yet, in the transfer market with new manager Ernesto Valverde bringing in just two players so far: Nelson Semedo the right-back from Benfica and Gerard Deulofeu rejoining from Everton.
This meeting of two European powerhouses, a repeat of the 2015 Champions League final, should not be low on quality.
And in Barca’s case it should not be low on desire.
But I expect the teams that start this Stateside meeting will be quite different to the ones which take to the field when the action gets underway for real.
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