Barcelona's Lionel Messi (L) and Neymar will be absent for the whole 2015 International Champions Cup series. (Photo : Reuters)
Reigning Spanish League champions FC Barcelona will take on Premiere League powerhouse Manchester United in one of the most highly-anticipated matches in the 2015 International Champions Cup 2015.
The game is scheduled to be held at the Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California on Saturday, July 25.
Barça is coming off a 2-1 victory over hosts LA Galaxy at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Tuesday, via Bleacher Report.
In tackling Los Galácticos, Luis Enrique's men is minus two of their most talented superstars in Lionel Messi and Neymar. Even so, the deep Camp Nou squad was able to pull off the victory with goals from Uruguayan striker Luis Suárez and Spanish midfielder Sergi Roberto in the 45th and 56th-minute marks of the match respectively.
Meanwhile, the Red Devils defeated another Major League Soccer team as they trounced the San Jose Earthquakes, 3-1, as per Goal.
Louis van Gaal's side featured again their four new recruits, Italy's Matteo Darmian, the Netherlands' Memphis Depay, France's Morgan Schneiderlin, and Germany's Bastian Schweinsteiger, who continues to jell with their new team in this friendly tournament.
The match promises to be an entertaining one even without Messi and Neymar as both managers are known to tactically play at their best even in exhibition games. Both teams are coming off equally impressive wins and have enough star-power to beat one another so this one is going to be difficult to forecast.
The prediction is a shootout win for Barça over the Red Devils after a 1-1 draw in regulation time. However, anything can happen in this match as the Old Trafford giants are perhaps the only team deep enough in these friendlies to outwit Enrique and company. But if Messi and Neymar were here, it would be a different story.
FC Barcelona starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): Masip; Bartra, Douglas, Mathieu, Adriano; Rakitić, Busquets, Roberto; Pedro, Suárez, Rafinha
Manchester United starting lineup (4-3-1-2 formation): Johnstone; Jones, Darmian, Blind, Shaw; Mata, Carrick, Schneiderlin; Young; Rooney, Depay
