If you saw the 2005 Vince Vaughn-Owen Wilson film “Wedding Crashers,” then you obviously know “crab cakes and football- that what Maryland DOES!” The meathead character who screams that in the film was obviously referring to American football, which is played at M&T Bank Stadium, but now it’s world football (what some might call “metric football”) coming to Maryland, with AC Milan taking on FC Barcelona at the home of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens.
Preseason Friendly FYIs
FC Barcelona vs AC Milan, the “Soccer Champions Tour”
Kickoff (local time): Tue. Aug 6, 7:30 pm, M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, MD, USA
Team News: FC Barcelona AC Milan
Starting XI Predictions: FC Barcelona AC Milan
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
AC Milan Team News
Let’s preview the final big name friendly that will be staged in the USA this summer.
Tijjani Reijnders, Mike Maignan and Theo Hernandez are now back from post-Euro 2024 holiday, but they did not rejoin the side on the other side of the ocean. Instead they headed to the Rossoneri training ground back in Italy.
The newly signed Strahinja Pavlovic has yet to make his debut in a Milan shirt, and it remains to be seen if he will in this clash.
Alessandro Florenzi remains out while he continues recovers from an ACL injury.
Finally, Capt. America Christian Pulisic should be involved from the start, as this match is only about 90 miles, or an hour and a half’s drive south of his hometown of Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Pulisic will have a big cheering section on hand for this one.
Starting XI Prediction
Lorenzo Torriani; Matteo Calabria, Fikayo Tomori, Malick Thiaw, Jimenez; Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Mattia Liberali, Yunus Musah; Christian Pulisic, Lujka Jovic, Rafael Leao
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network and the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.