Chelsea Squares vs. Barcelona: 2015 International Champions Cup

The 2015 International Champions Cup has been one of the highlights of the football world this summer.  This Tuesday play will resume in Landover, MD when Chelsea FC takes on FC Barcelona at FedEx Field.  Kicking off at 9:05 p.m. this match features a battle between reigning champions.

Chelsea FC is headlined by one of the best current European football stars.  The reining Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Season Eden Hazard is coming off a stellar season.  Hazard was one of the main cogs in helping Chelsea secure its 4^th Premier League title last season.  The seven time Football Association Cup winners will also showcase Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas, who contributed a whopping 18 assists during EPL play last year.

Having played twice so far, Chelsea enters the third of four ICC matches with a record of 1-1.  They opened with a shocker, falling 2-4 to Major League Soccer outfit New York Red Bulls.  Chelsea bounced by topping Paris Saint-Germain 6-5 in penalties last Saturday.  Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois stole the show, saving two spot kicks before scoring the deciding tallying.  Chelsea will close out the tournament against Fiorentina on August 5^th in London, England. 

FC Barcelona has no shortage of stars either.  The reigning La Liga and UEFA Champions league champs will deploy stars such forward Luis Suarez and midfield ace Andrés Iniesta.  Joining them are 2014 World Cup defenders Gerard Piqué, Jordi Alba and Thomas Vermaelen.

The opening match of FC Barcelona’s ICC campaign took place in Pasadena, CA.  The team showed that they have a plethora of talent, as they defeated MLS club Los Angeles Galaxy 2-1.  California was also the site for the following match, which ended in a 3-1 defeat to Manchester United.  Although Barcelona dominated with 65.7% of the possession, United’s attack proved too much to handle. The Spanish club will play its final match of the tournament on August 2^nd against Fiorentina in Florence, Italy. 

Historically, this matches roots run deep.  These foes met last during the 2011-12 UEFA Champions League Semifinal.  With the score line 2-0 and down a men in the second leg, Chelsea roared back to a 3-2 win sealing the victory and a trip to the final.  Another fact to note is that in four of the last five meetings Chelsea and Barcelona have finished in draws.

Barcelona finds themselves in 5^th of the tournament standings on 3 points while Chelsea sit in 7^th having mustered only 2 so far.