LOS ANGELES — After a summer tour plot unexpectedly turned into a Hollywood movie, in which several players fell ill with a stomach causing the highly anticipated pre-season opening game to be canceled. Last minute, the Catalans will finally get their chance to open in the United States when they take on Arsenal on Wednesday night at the SoFi Stadium.
Stripped of their much-anticipated debut against Juventus in Santa Clara last Saturday, the players are feeling strengthened and revitalized, and now the focus is back on football, allowing Xavi to take a look. first on the team in a competitive situation since the end of the pre-campaign in early June.
And compete it will be. Wednesday’s key game in LA comes against the London-based Gunners, defending Premier League runners-up who are second only to Champions League champions Manchester City. To add an extra twist to Wednesday’s West Coast spectacle, it’s possible that Barça and Arsenal will face each other twice this fall in the Champions League group stage.
Match kick-off is set at 7:30 p.m. PT on Wednesday (4:30 a.m. CEST on Thursday) at SoFi Stadium, a 70,240-seat indoor-outdoor field, is the home ground of the Los Angeles Chargers and the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL.
Barça go into the game with 15 days of pre-season training. The Catalans train in Barcelona starting July 10 before flying to LA on July 19 to begin their summer tour.
Two of the team’s three signings are expected to make their Blaugrana debuts against Arsenal. Ilkay Gündogan, who arrived at Barça from Manchester City, and Oriol Romeu, who hailed from Girona, are believed to be two of the team’s main midfielders. Iñigo Martínez, who signed from Sports Club Bilbao, has yet to be declared fit.
