Pre-season and Super Cup matches worth watching

The Chelsea v Real Madrid encounter would be a tasty one what with Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho (in pic) pitting their wits again.

I know some people are eagerly awaiting the start of their favourite European football leagues and for most, they cannot start soon enough, but it is important not to totally gloss over the pre-season friendlies and Super Cups that will be played over the next month or so.

While we all put different value on certain competitions, there are some potential intriguing matches that will occur over this time frame that shape how we view some key teams in the wonderful world of European football.

The pre-season can often act as a great mirage that fools us all.  The organizers in Europe, the US and Asia do their best to put together compelling matches, but we often get ‘treated’ to very uncompetitive affairs.

I was fooled in the summer of 2011 when Barcelona and Manchester United met in Washington,  just a few weeks removed from their Champions League Final clash.  This match was far from the level of the glorious final and I vowed after that to never again fall for the hype.  Yet, the US might have organized a tournament that could change that perception just a bit.

Over the past few years, the US has hosted summer tournaments featuring top clubs from Europe that were determined by a point system.  They were basically just a group of teams playing to earn the most points with no actual two team final and in most cases, all the teams did not play each other.

They were done in this way to ensure that teams would get a set amount of matches and could properly schedule their travel and preparations.  It all amounted to tournaments no one cared about, results that really did not mean anything, and the inclusion of certain MLS sides that did not stack up.

Then someone came up with the brilliantly structured International Champions Cup.  This is a tournament structure that guarantees each participant three matches and locked in the locations and dates for scheduling convenience.  They eliminated the less appealing MLS sides and only included the LA Galaxy, the most relevant team in the US at the moment.

The other seven sides are all first rate European club teams: Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Everton, and Valencia.  The tournament promises at worst some very intriguing match ups, because sides are forced into ‘loser bracket’ matches or placement matches based on their results.

The carrot this tournament is really dangling is a potential meeting between Real Madrid and Chelsea, either in the Final or a third place match.

This would more than likely be the most important friendly ever played on US soil.  Whether or not either side would go full speed is a tough question to answer, but there is no doubt the bitter feelings that Jose Mourinho created upon his departure would create a great build up.

Real Madrid would not want to miss a chance to smack around their former manager’s new side, while Jose would love to do the same with a side that he believes loves him more.  There is no doubt it will make for great drama.

Tottenham Hotspur versus Monaco is a match that intrigues me because I think there is a hidden agenda here.  There is no rivalry or tournament competition surrounding this match, so it is by all intents a pure friendly. Yet, I think that Tottenham scheduled this match to actually show off the skills of Bale to Monaco, a potential suitor for next season.  It also allows for Bale to have some interplay with the Monaco players.

That seems a bit devious, but Spurs are likely going to be forced to finally sell next year and getting the interest of the new big spenders on the block could help drive up the price.  There is no reason to think otherwise.  I will be watching to see if Bale features at all and how much he plays.