[Pat Murphy]

Barcelona Going Stateside Again

Barcelona will prepare for their Champions League qualifiers by playing two games in the United States after signing a strategic agreement with the MLS.

After jetting out on July 31, Pep Guardiola's team will meet Guadalajara in Chicago before travelling to New York, where they will take on the Red Bulls.

The Blaugrana's pre-season plans were disrupted when the team finished third in the league meaning that they have to play a two-legged tie to reach the Champions League group stage.

Barça's agreement with the MLS means that they are obliged to play six matches in the next five years in the States in exchange for the club's name to be used in marketing across the country.

On August 3, Guadalajara will be the opponents at Soldier Field and three days later the Red Bulls will be the hosts at Giants' Stadium and both games will kick off at 7pm local time, 1am CET.

Two year ago, Barcelona played three matches in the United States and saw and average of over 80,000 attend the games against Guadalajara, Club América and the Red Bulls.

After the two games, the squad will fly back to the Ciutat Contal to begin preparations for their first Champions League game a week later.

Boca Juniors are due to visit Camp Nou for the annual Trofeo Joan Gamper match at the end of August, but not official date has yet been announced for that encounter.

Lucas Brown, Goal.com

Good that we have time to prepare for the CL qualifying rounds. Hopefully we don't get anyone too hard.