Nearly more than a month after the home of the New York Giants and Jets hosted the final of the Copa America Centenario, another match will take center stage as two giants take on each other at MetLife Stadium. The defending UEFA Champions League champions, Real Madrid, of Spain, face off against Bayern Munich, of Germany, five-time European champions in the International Champions Cup.
Los Merengues ready as ever
Real Madrid come into this match with a mixed record so far this preseason. Having lost to Paris Saint-Germain and beaten Chelsea FC in their first two games of the International Champions Cup, things have looked well for Zinedine Zidane's men, despite not being with star players Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo due to their run in Euro 2016 last month. Still, the 11-time European champions still have a strong squad with the likes of players such as Keylor Navas, Marcelo, James Rodriguez, Karim Benzema, Alvaro Morata, and Sergio Ramos among many others.
As they are looking to end on a good run before traveling to Norway to contest the UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla next week, it's vitally important that Los Merengues go into that game with a healthy squad and try to win their first title of the 2016-17 season.
The Bavarians
When Carlo Ancelotti took the helm as manager of Bayern Munich over Pep Guardiola, it's fair to say that the consistency that the side based in Germany will demonstrate their power as a team and that proved so far in this preseason. They had already beaten the likes of Lippstadt, Manchester City, and Landshut before even traveling to the United States for the tournament.
In the International Champions Cup, they drew AC Milan 1-1 before losing on penalties in their first match. Then, in their second, they beat Inter Milan by five goals to one in Charlotte, in which American Julian Green scored a hat-trick. Still, with the firepower that they have with players like Franck Ribery, Douglas Costa, Javi Martinez, Arturo Vidal and Xabi Alonso among others, it's fair to say that they will also entertain the 80,000 people that will be packed in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Overview
Zidane's men will definitely come out and attack, just as they did against PSG and Chelsea in their first two games. However, it is surely the effort from the defense that will come up and help out on the attack, which contributed to the goals that came from the defense, such as defender Marcelo.
As for Bayern, Ancelotti's men will also try to attack as they did in the first two games against the Milan clubs. Julian Green is going to have to pull out another great performance just like he did against Inter over the weekend and this time, against the defending UEFA Champions League champions.