Daley Blind and Manchester United head to Houston, for the first ever Manchester Derby ever held outside of Europe on Thursday. They’ll face Manchester City in an exhibition that will see both sides honor victims of the Manchester Arena terrorist attack. Go here for more on those shirts and the bigger cause that they’ll serve.
While it will be #OneCityUnited in with the team shirts, and their post match destination, the actual match itself will feature the usual divisiveness you would expect from a Manchester Derby. Or at least that’s what Blind told Pro Soccer Talk.
“It will be a friendly, it will be preseason… but from the inside everyone feels like it is a derby and it will always be that way,” Blind in quoted on NBC Sports.com
“It is always special to play games like that. The derby always brings something extra and it will definitely be like that in Houston.”
“It’s something different, that’s for sure. I think it’s great. No doubt there will be lots of people coming to watch the game and it will give a great experience to every player. These are the games you want to play in with these teams. The derby always brings something extra, personally, and for everyone, so I think it will be a great game, experience and preparation for the season.”
The Derby will mark the middle piece of a five games in 10 days stretch for United. They have two wins over MLS sides already, 2-1 at Real Salt Lake last night and 5-2 at L.A. Galaxy on Saturday night.
After the clash with Man City deep in the heart of Texas, United will take on both members of the El Clasico rivalry, Real Madrid and Barcelona.
It’s all preparations for the upcoming season, which essentially begins in a trophy clash, the Super Cup on August 8th against Real Madrid in Skopje, Macedonia.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV.
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