Barcelona pops up with surprise friendly in US this December

Barcelona has officially scheduled an upcoming friendly in the United States. The Catalan club was previously expected to travel stateside for a match in December. However, the final details of the trip have now been ironed out.

The Spanish giants will play Club America in Dallas, Texas on December 21st. The game comes just one day after Barca is currently scheduled to host Almeria in a Spanish top flight fixture. LaLiga teams will take a two-week break during the holiday period in late-December. This allows Barca to make the journey across the pond to play America.

“Immediately after the final whistle against Almería at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, the team will be packing their bags and heading off to the United States, where the ‘Eagles’ will be waiting to play them in a friendly at the Cotton Bowl Stadium,” Barca announced in an statement regarding the friendly.

Stadium is traditionally for college football games

The Cotton Bowl is a historic stadium that has hosted sporting events for over 100 years. The arena was the previous home of college football’s Cotton Bowl Classic, as well as the Red River Rivalry game between Texas and Oklahoma. It currently has a capacity of 90,000 fans. Major League Soccer side FC Dallas also previously called the stadium home during the mid-2000s.

Barca has played at the Cotton Bowl before. In fact, they only just faced Juventus at the arena in July of 2022. The two top teams ended up drawing the match 2-2 in front of over 58,000 fans. Ousmane Dembele scored both goals for the Catalan club, while Moise Kean also netted a brace for the Italians.

Financial issues likely reason for scheduling friendly

The decision to play a friendly so close to a league match and so far from Spain has certainly raised eyebrows. Clubs, particularly Barca, do not usually schedule midseason friendly matches. In fact, the Spanish giants have only previously played an overseas exhibition game in December just once. The club traveled to Saudi Arabia to face Boca Juniors in 2021. The match was a tribute to the late Diego Maradona.

However, Barca is likely making the move to play in Dallas next month to help raise money. Los Cules were guilty of a Financial Fair Play (FFP) violation earlier this year. They have since came up with creative ways to help ease their financial woes. This includes selling small squares of Camp Nou grass and halting Barca TV.

The December friendly will help ease Barcelona’s financial problems as well. It is being reported that the match with America will likely generate around $5.5 million in profits. The club has, however, claimed that proceeds from the friendly will go towards victims of Hurricane Otis. The storm previously struck the Mexican city of Acapulco in early October.

Barca is currently third in the LaLiga standings during the international break behind bitter rivals Real Madrid. Surprise league leaders Girona top the table over the two Spanish powerhouses. America, on the other hand, is seven points clear atop the Liga MX standings after 17 games. Both teams have lost just one game each in league play so far this season.

Photo credits: IMAGO / ZUMA Wire : IMAGO / Avalon.red