The six International Champions Cup matches that you should not miss | OneFootball

The World Cup is over but the International Champions Cup is just about to begin!

Were you worried about how you’d get to the start of the new season? Fear not. From the 20th July until the 11th August, Europe’s biggest clubs are taking each other on in pre-season friendlies.

Here are our six fixtures that you should not miss.

Manchester City v Borussia Dortmund

20th July, 3:05am CET

Soldier Field, Chicago

With so many of his stars in World Cup action, this will be a great chance for some players to push themselves into Pep Guardiola’s plans for the season. We might even see Joe Hart! And a Riyad Mahrez debut!

City were nigh-on perfect in the Premier League last season so the question now is how you improve on perfection.

As for Dortmund, they’ve signed five first team players this summer and have a new head coach in Lucien Favre.

This will be the first good chance to see what they’ll look like under the Swiss and whether or not they stand a chance of threatening Bayern Munich domestically again.

Bayern Munich v Paris Saint-Germain

21st July, 4:05pm CET

Worthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt

Bayern under Nico Kovač, PSG under Thomas Tuchel. Everything is so different. With Germany out of the World Cup so early Bayern fans can expect to see plenty of their stars in action.

The same isn’t quite true of PSG but we will see Gianluigi Buffon after his move to the French capital.

If Barcelona and Real Madrid are the two big players in European football, these are the clubs most desperate to break into that bracket. Domestic domination is no longer enough, so can anyone lay down an early marker?

Manchester United v Liverpool

28th July, 11:05pm CET

Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor

Always a massive game, this time around it sees two clubs most likely to challenge Manchester City for the title next season.

José Mourinho has tended to make a habit of marginalising players but this provides the likes of Luke Shaw with a brilliant chance to prove themselves.

As for Liverpool fans, they’ll be able to see the likes of Fabinho and Naby Keïta in a somewhat competitive game for the first time.

Barcelona v Tottenham

28th July, 5:05am CET

Rose Bowl, Pasadena

Andrés Iniesta is gone, what now for Barcelona? There’s no longer Paulinho in midfield either. We’re sure they’ll be fine but there’s a lot of remodelling for Ernesto Valverde to do if he wants to retain the LaLiga title and make waves in Europe.

As for Tottenham, they’ve held on to Mauricio Pochettino and a number of key players, though many of those will be absent as they went far into the World Cup.

Is this the season the north London side finally push on and how will they cope in August when half their first team have hardly had a summer break?

Arsenal v Chelsea

1st August, 9:05pm, CET

Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Arsenal and Chelsea fans get to see Unai Emery and Maurizio Sarri in charge of an all-Premier League fixture for the first time. Sort of.

We should see Chelsea  trying to dominate possession and no longer lining up with a five-man defence. We should see Arsenal defending more compactly and pressing intelligently for once. It’s all change.

The two go head-to-head in just the second game of the Premier League season, adding a whole element of interest to this encounter.

Real Madrid v Juventus

5th August, 12:05am CET

FedEx Field, Landover

Cristiano Ronaldo’s former club meets Cristiano Ronaldo’s current club. Unfortunately, Juventus’ new number seven won’t be in action.

That doesn’t take all the interest away, though. Madrid are the only side to have knocked Juve out of the Champions League in each of the last two seasons. They also sent the Italian champions home in 2015 and got the better of them in the 2014 group stage.

Will that change without Ronaldo on the other side? Can Juve get over their Madrid hoodoo before the season begins?