Barcelona will take part in the International Champions Cup as a part of their pre-season preparations for the 2016-17 season. They will face Irish side Celtic FC on 30 July at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin in their first pre-season match of the International Champions Cup. Before that, The La Liga champions will travel to St. George’s park in Staffordshire in England on 25 July where a training camp will be held till July 30.
Luis Enrique’s side had a fairly successful campaign last season, winning the Spanish double of the La Liga and Copa Del Rey. They sealed their sixth La Liga tie title in eight years with an emphatic 3-0 win over Granada. However, the major disappointment was the Champions League quarter-final elimination at the hands of Atletico Madrid which they lost 2-3 on aggregate. Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi were in top form for the Catalans last season, scoring 59 and 41 goals respectively in all competitions.
This will be Barcelona’s second year in the International Champions Cup. Lat year they played against Los Angeles Galaxy, Manchester United and Chelsea before travelling to Italy to face Fiorentina in a friendly. This year, they will take on Celtic FC in Dublin in their first match. The Blaugrana had last played in Dublin in 1963 when they beat Shelbourne 2-0 in a Round of 32 tie of the European Cup Winners’ Cup.
From Ireland, the Catalans travel to Sweden to face the newly crowned EPL champions Leicester City in Stockholm on 3 August. This will be the first time Barca play in Stockholm though they had previously played in Sweden on plenty of occasions.
Barcelona have opted to remain in Europe for this year’s pre-season tour. They will conclude the ICC matches by playing against Liverpool at Wembley Stadium in London on 6 August. The match could see striker Luis Suarez returning to face his former teammates at the Wembley. Tickets for the match, priced at £26 for adults and £15 for juniors, were sold out in under four hours.
After the three matches in the International Champions Cup, the Blaugrana will return to Camp Nou where they will play in their annual ‘Joan Gamper Trophy’ on 10 August. The opponents for this match are yet to be announced, though rumour has it that they could go up against Jose Mourinho led Manchester United.
Luis Enrique will not have a full strength squad for the pre-season tour with most players who were on International duty in the Copa America and Euro 2016 on their holidays. It will be a perfect opportunity for the loanees and La Masia graduates to show their potential of playing with the very best.
| Date | Opponents | Venue | Kick-off (IST) |
| 30 July | Celtic FC | Aviva Stadium, Dublin | 11:30 pm |
| 4 August | Leicester City | Friends Arena, Stockholm | 12:30 am |
| 6 August | Liverpool | Wembley, London | 10:30 pm |
| 10 August(Joan Gamper Trophy) | TBD | Camp Nou, Barcelona | TBD |
