As we all know Chelsea are due to return to the United States for pre-season as one of eight clubs that will compete in the Guinness International Champions Cup, along with AC Milian, Inter Milan, Juventus, Real Madrid, Valencia, Everton and LA Galaxy.
Our first match has now been confirmed and we will play one of Jose Mourinho’s former clubs Inter Milan on August 1st at the Lucas Oil stadium in Indianapolis, home of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts.
The eight clubs have been split into two groups of four with AC Milan and Valencia making up the rest of the Blues’ group, or ‘East side’ of the draw. Real, Juventus, The Toffees and LA Galaxy are in the West side of the draw.
In our second match we will visit another home of an NFL franchise at the New York Giants at the MetLife Stadium, where we will play either AC or Juan Mata’s old side Valencia.
All of the teams will then come together on the 6th and 7th of August in Florida at the Sun Life Stadium, where the Miami Dolphins play. There will be a series of play-offs depending on prior results and the two finalists will play on the Wednesday night.
“To bring eight teams to one city has never happened. Period.” – Relevent Sports CEO Charlie Stillitano #ICC2013
— Int Champions Cup (@IntChampionsCup) May 29, 2013
Below is a picture of the tournament board and even though it’s a bunch of pre-season friendlies and doesn’t really matter, I’d like to see young players given the opportunity to impress and a few new faces to use it as an opportunity to bed in. Both Chelsea and Real Madrid will have their next managers in place by then and if things go as expected they’ll have Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti respectively. Hopefully they’ll cross paths at some point.
Introducing the first ever International Champions Cup bracket! #ICC2013 twitter.com/IntChampionsCu…
— Int Champions Cup (@IntChampionsCup) May 29, 2013
Source: ChelseaFC.com
