Manchester City will be looking to try and kick start their pre-season campaign with their first victory of their American tour, but will face a tough test when they take on the current Champions League holders Real Madrid in Los Angeles.
Trying to get back on track
In terms of their off-the-pitch business it has been an excellent start to the season for The Citizens, as coach Pep Guardiola has looked to prepare his side for a certain Premier League title battle by breaking the £200million transfer barrier in the past few weeks and months.
Guardiola has already added; Bernardo Silva, Ederson, Kyle Walker and Danilo to the side, but their spending continued at the beginning of the week as they once again broke the transfer record for a defender with the £52m signing of Benjamin Mendy from AS Monaco.
Ederson and Walker made their debut last Friday as they took on bitter rivals Manchester United in their first overseas derby and opening game of pre-season, and it didn't go according to plan in the NRG Stadium as goals from Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford in quick succession saw them slump to a 2-0 defeat in an uninspired performance.
Guardiola will be hoping that with addition of Mendy and Danilo and further training session under their belt it could be improve them ahead of the clash with The Galácticos, but City fans will be eager to see an improvement with just a little over two weeks before their league opener against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Preparing for the curtain raiser
Madrid have come back into action off yet another historic campaign becoming the first side in the Champions League era to win the trophy in two consecutive seasons, but coach Zinedine Zidane will have mixed feelings on his side's start to their pre-season campaign.
The Spanish giants started well with their 4-1 defeat of AC Milan, but when they came up against Manchester United in San Francisco it proved to be a much tougher task.
The side weren't really in the first period and were punished right at the death with Jesse Lingard's brilliant effort, Zidane switched the XI in the second period and proved to be the spark needed as Casemiro's penalty took it to a shootout which they narrowly lost 2-1 due to the Brazilian's missed effort.
It is a tough road ahead for Madrid as an overseas El Clásico with Barcelona lays on the horizon. That is followed by their first competitive clash of the campaign with the UEFA Super Cup against United before taking on Barca in the Spanish Super Cup so the clash with City could prove a crucial confidence boost going into the new season.
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Guardiola could hand out two more debuts in Los Angeles with Mendy and Danilio available for selection after completing their respective moves. It will certainly be a strange one for Danilo having completed his £26.5m move from Madrid on Sunday and could be right back in contention against his former teammates three days later.
One player yet to make his debut is Silva who like goalkeeper Claudio Bravo has been give an extended holiday after competing in the Confederations Cup. Wilfried Bony, Fernando, Kelechi Iheanacho and Fabian Delph didn't travel with the squad while İlkay Gündoğan and David Silva still have fitness doubts.
One big absentee in Zidane's side at the back has been captain Sergio Ramos, the defender was given an extended holiday which saw him not play any part against The Red Devils but could return against their bitter rivals. Dani Ceballos could also be in line for his debut after his move from Real Betis, while talisman Cristiano Ronaldo continues to be absent after playing in the Confederations Cup.
Manchester City will take on Real Madrid in the International Champions Cup at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Thursday, July 27 at 4:35AM GMT.