Spanish giant Real Madrid, who will take the field in opposition at the 2017 MLS All-Star Game presented by Target on August 2 (9pm ET | FS1, UniMás; TSN), are entering the competitive phase of their US tour with Sunday's matchup with Manchester United at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California (5pm ET | GET INFO).
They'll follow that with an L.A. pit stop against Manchester City at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on July 26 and closing out the round-robin tournament with "El Clasico Miami" against rivals Barcelona at Hard Rock Stadium on July 29 (7:30pm ET | GET INFO).
Madrid arrived in Los Angeles on July 12, when they opened a preparatory camp at UCLA. Left back and vice captain Marcelo told media Friday that he relishes the challenge of playing in the upcoming All-Star Game:
"There's no such thing as a friendly for us. We always want to win every game. This is preseason and it's really special to be coming up against the MLS All-Stars.”
Goalkeeper Keylor Navas, a Costa Rica international with 13 countrymen in MLS -- and five on the Gold Cup roster -- said Monday that he wished more Ticos could have earned recognition:
“They are here following their dreams too, and if it is for me, I would take them all to that game.”
