Products You May Like
With the 2021-22 campaign already a fading memory, the thoughts of football clubs across Europe naturally turn not only to the summer transfer window but also to their preseason schedule. Teams in the Premier League, LaLiga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1 will all have various world tours and far-flung exhibition matches in the offing.
Here we lay out the preseason fixtures confirmed by the biggest clubs both in Europe’s five major leagues, most of whom are gearing up to spend the coming months touring the United States to take part in a series of friendlies and mini-tournaments for the entertainment of their fans Stateside.
We’ll keep track of how many games each team will be playing over the summer as and when they are announced, as well as keeping a running total of the miles each squad will rack up while crisscrossing the globe before the start of the 2022-23 season.
JUMP TO: Premier League | LaLiga | Bundesliga | Serie A | Ligue 1
Premier League
Manchester City
The Premier League champions are one of many European clubs who will be heading across the Atlantic to the U.S. this summer, with two exhibition games confirmed so far. City are currently scheduled to kick off their tour with a friendly against Liga MX side Club America in Texas before traipsing across the entire country to play Bayern Munich in Wisconsin at the home of the Green Bay Packers.
July 20: Manchester City vs. Club America (NRG Stadium, Houston)
July 23: Manchester City vs. Bayern Munich (Lambeau Field, Green Bay)
Etihad Stadium to NRG Stadium: 4,719 miles
NRG Stadium to Lambeau Field: 1,099 miles
Lambeau Field to Etihad Stadium: 3,698 miles
Total: 9,516 miles
Having finished runners-up to Real Madrid in the Champions League final and to Manchester City in the Premier League, Liverpool intend to dust themselves off and go again next month. The FA Cup and Carabao Cup holders kick off their preseason schedule with a heavyweight bout against Manchester United for the Bangkok Century Cup in the Thai capital. The Reds then fly to Singapore where they will also come up against Premier League opposition in the shape of Crystal Palace.
July 12: Liverpool vs. Manchester United (Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok)
July 15: Liverpool vs. Crystal Palace (National Stadium, Singapore)
Anfield to Rajamangala Stadium: 5,997 miles
Rajamangala Stadium to Singapore National Stadium: 890 miles
Singapore National Stadium to Anfield: 6,827 miles
Total: 13,714 miles
Chelsea and Arsenal’s respective preseason schedules are intertwined, as both Premier League sides intend to take part in the Florida Cup Series: Clash of Nations. The FC Series involves a clutch of games staged across the U.S. that will unfold over the course of a week before culminating in a “grand final” between the Blues and the Gunners in order to ascertain the champions of the 2022 Florida Cup.
July 16: Chelsea vs. Club America (Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas)
July 20: Chelsea vs. Charlotte FC (Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte)
July 23: Arsenal vs. Chelsea (Camping World Stadium, Orlando)
Stamford Bridge to Allegiant Stadium: 5,222 miles
Allegiant Stadium to Bank of America Stadium: 1,933 miles
Camping World Stadium to Stamford Bridge: 4,335 miles
Bank of America Stadium to Camping World Stadium: 464 miles
Total: 8,675 miles
Tottenham first announced their plans to tour South Korea in February which seemed a natural choice given that the captains of the Korean men’s and women’s national teams (Heung-Min Son and Cho So-Hyun) both play for Spurs. The north London side will take part in the Coupang Play Series, which consists of two games three days apart. The first game is against a K League All-Star XI in Seoul and the second is against Spanish side Sevilla in the city of Suwon, which lies roughly 20 miles outside the nation’s capital.
July 13: Tottenham vs. Team K League (Seoul World Cup Stadium)
July 16: Tottenham vs. Sevilla (Suwon World Cup Stadium)
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to Seoul World Cup Stadium: 5,491 miles
Seoul World Cup Stadium to Suwon World Cup Stadium: 21 miles
Suwon World Cup Stadium to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium: 5,512 miles
Total: 11,024 miles
As a precursor to their Florida Cup matches, Arsenal will be facing Premier League rivals Everton, who they beat 5-1 on the final day of last season. After playing Chelsea in Orlando, the Gunners will return home to host Sevilla and two other as-yet-unnamed clubs in their annual Emirates Cup tournament.
July 16: Arsenal vs. Everton (M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore)
July 20: Arsenal vs. Orlando City (Exploria Stadium, Orlando)
July 23: Arsenal vs. Chelsea (Camping World Stadium, Orlando)
July 30: Arsenal vs. Sevilla (Emirates Stadium, London)
July 31: Arsenal vs. TBD (Emirates Stadium, London)
Emirates Stadium to M&T Bank Stadium: 3,629 miles
M&T Bank Stadium to Exploria Stadium: 884 miles
Exploria Stadium to Camping World Stadium: 0.5 miles
Camping World Stadium to Emirates Stadium: 4,337 miles
Total: 8,850.5 miles
1:28
Mark Ogden feels Manchester United’s plans to tour Thailand and Australia in the pre-season prioritises commercial targets over footballing success.
Manchester United are taking their show on the road across both Asia and Australia this summer with a blockbuster tie against Liverpool in Bangkok before a run of back-to-back games in Melbourne. The Red Devils will then fly back to Europe in order to square off against Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid in a one-off friendly being played on neutral ground in Norway.
July 12: Manchester United vs. Liverpool in Century Cup (Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok)
July 15: Manchester United vs. Melbourne Victory (Melbourne Cricket Ground)
July 19: Manchester United vs. Crystal Palace (Melbourne Cricket Ground)
July 30: Manchester United vs. Atletico Madrid, (Ullevaal Stadium, Oslo)
Old Trafford to Rajamangala Stadium: 5,970 miles
Rajamangala Stadium to Melbourne Cricket Ground: 4,574 miles
Melbourne Cricket Ground to Ullevaal Stadium: 9,928 miles
Ullevaal Stadium to Old Trafford: 665 miles
Total: 21,137 miles
While Real are expected to report back for preseason training on July 8, there are no further official details available on how and where the LaLiga and Champions League double winners will begin their preparations for defending their twin titles in 2022-23. Potential exhibition games have been mooted to be taking place in several U.S. cities (including a rumoured El Clasico friendly against Barcelona in Las Vegas around July 23-24) but nothing is set in stone for Los Blancos quite yet. Indeed, the only preseason fixture firmly in place in Real’s summer schedule is the UEFA Super Cup in Finland on Aug. 10, just two days before LaLiga begins its new season.
Aug. 10: Real Madrid vs. Eintracht Frankfurt, UEFA Super Cup (Helsinki Olympic Stadium)
Bernabeu Stadium to Helsinki Olympic Stadium: 1,828 miles
Helsinki Olympic Stadium to Bernabeu Stadium: 1,828 miles
Total: 3,656 miles
Barcelona — who flew to Australia right after the 2021-22 campaign ended for a one-off match against the A-League Men All-Stars, which they won 3-2 — will be visiting the U.S. in late July with a preseason tour that so far encompasses two games against MLS sides. However, it is anticipated that at least one or two more exhibition matches will be added to the tour itinerary in the weeks to come and perhaps against opposition a little more familiar to the LaLiga giants.
July 19: Barcelona vs. Inter Miami (DRV PNK Stadium, Fort Lauderdale)
July 30: Barcelona vs. New York Red Bulls (Red Bull Arena, New Jersey)
Camp Nou to DRV PNK Stadium: 4,663 miles
DRV PNK Stadium to Red Bull Arena: 1,062 miles
Red Bull Arena to Camp Nou: 3,835 miles
Total: 9,560 miles
Atletico Madrid are expected to report back for preseason training on July 10 but so far the only fixture on their summer schedule is a friendly against Manchester United in Norway at the very end of the month. The game is a repeat of last season’s Champions League round-of-16 clash (which Atletico won 2-1 on aggregate), albeit with slightly lower stakes this time round.
July 30: Atletico Madrid vs. Manchester United (Ullevaal Stadium, Oslo)
Wanda Metropolitano to Ullevaal Stadium: 1,489 miles
Ullevaal Stadium to Wanda Metropolitano: 1,489 miles
Total: 2,978 miles
Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich are all set to take part in the Audi Summer Tour, which will take the Bavarian club across the U.S. for the fifth time since they first spent their preseason limbering up in the States in 2014. So far the tour consists of just two games taking place at enormous NFL stadiums but it’s likely that more opponents and/or venues will be added in the weeks to come.
July 20: Bayern Munich vs. DC United (Audi Field, Washington D.C.)
July 23: Bayern Munich vs. Manchester City (Lambeau Field, Green Bay)
Allianz Arena to Audi Field: 4,232 miles
Audi Field to Lambeau Field: 692 miles
Lambeau Field to Allianz Arena: 4,400 miles
Total: 9,324 miles
Dortmund are yet to reveal their plans for preseason with no fixtures for summer 2022 appearing on their official website as things stand.
Italy’s new champions AC Milan and big hitters Juventus and Inter Milan are reportedly embarking upon a series of friendly matches in the U.S. over the summer, though nothing has been confirmed by any club as yet.
PSG have booked in a preseason tour of Japan with a tripleheader of matches against J1 League sides Kawasaki Frontale, Urawa Red Diamonds, and Gamba Osaka taking place in late July.
July 20: PSG vs. Kawasaki Frontale (Japan National Stadium, Tokyo)
July 23: PSG vs. Urawa Red Diamonds (Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama)
July 25: PSG vs. Gamba Osaka (Panasonic Stadium Suita, Osaka)
Parc des Princes to Japan National Stadium: 6,036 miles
Japan National Stadium to Saitama Stadium: 16 miles
Saitama Stadium to Panasonic Stadium: 247 miles
Panasonic Stadium to Parc des Princes: 5,980 miles
Total: 12,279 miles