Match Preview: Saturday 12/08/2006 01:30 (GMT+2): Friendly Match Tour 2006 USA & Mexico
New York Red Bulls - FC Barcelona

Giants Stadium, New York – capacity: about 80.000





FC Barcelona's last match on their American Tour will be against the New York Red Bulls tonight. It is expected that new signings Lilian Thuram and Gianluca Zambrotta will make their debut for FC Barcelona.
Zambrotta and Thuram have spent five years together at Juventus and both have won the World Cup. In these 5 years, the two defenders won 4 league titles but two of them have been revoked following "Moggigate" this summer. The two players have built up an excellent working relationship over the last 5 years and all Baqrca fans are excited to see both playing their first minutes in a Barca shirt.


The 2 new boys, Zambrotta and Thuram, joined the team in Los Angeles, but have not featured in either of the games against Chivas or Club América. Along with Barca midfielder Xavi, these are the only 2 Barca players that have yet to play on the pre-season tour. After training with their new team mates for a week, the time has come to bring on Zambrotta and Thuram. With Barca captain Carles Puyol probably unfit to play, there is even more reason to incorporate the two world stars. Barca midfield star Xavi, who was following a special recuperation programme, may also be handed his chance to appear.


Tonights match against New York Red Bulls (Barça TV at 1:30) is the only encounter against a US Major League Soccer team. In fact, this is the first time FC Barcelona will play a team from the USA. Like on the 3 previous visits of FC Barcelona in Monterrey (Mexico), Los Angeles and Houston, the Giants Stadium is expected to be a sell out. From nearly 80,000 tickets only 5,000 have not been taken so far.


After 1 win against Tigres in Monterrey and 2 draws against Chivas in Los Angeles (1-1) and Club América in Houston (4-4), Barça want to finish their Tour 2006 with a win. Barca will take this test serious and with the Super Cup Final first leg ahead on August 17, Barca coach Frank Rijkaard will be keen to create a competetive atmospere and ambitious to find his starting line-up against Espanyol.


The New York Red Bulls will be a tough oppononent. The Red Bulls are already playing in their championship and are absolute match fit. Currently third in the Major League Soccer Eastern Conference, the team is managed by former US national coach Bruce Arena and the most famous players are veterans Tony Meola (37) and former world champion Youri Djorkaeff (38).


Prediction: A tough task for Barca against a match fit opponent. Surely Barca has worked on their defence problems and with the integration of Zambrotta and Thuram, there will be more security in the back line. Ronnie might not be 100% match fit after his holiday, but will inspire the team to a win. 2-1 for Barca!

Visca el Barca!