INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONS CUP PRESENTED BY HEINEKEN TO HOST TWO MATCHES IN NEW YORK AREA INCLUDING JUVENTUS F.C. V. FC BARCELONA AND TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR F.C. V. AS ROMA
Juventus F.C. to face FC Barcelona on July 22 at MetLife Stadium
Tottenham Hotspur F.C. to face AS Roma on July 25 at Red Bull Arena
Both Matches will air on ESPN
NEW YORK (March 21, 2017) – Relevent Sports, a division of RSE Ventures, today announced that two matches will be held in the New York area as part of the 2017 International Champions Cup presented by Heineken. First, five-time reigning Italian Serie A champions Juventus F.C. and reigning Spanish La Liga champions FC Barcelona will square off at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Saturday, July 22 at 6:00PM ET. English Premier League powerhouse Tottenham Hotspur F.C. and Italian Serie A giant AS Roma will then meet at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey on Tuesday, July 25 at 8:00PM ET. Both matches will air on ESPN.
Juventus F.C. and FC Barcelona previously met in the 2015 UEFA Champions League final in Berlin with FC Barcelona taking home a 3-1 victory. Both clubs recently advanced to the quarterfinals of this year’s Champions League bracket where they will face each other next month. Juventus F.C. held F.C. Porto scoreless in both of their matches in the Round of 16 while FC Barcelona staged a thrilling comeback against Paris Saint-Germain F.C., scoring a sixth goal in stoppage time of their second match to advance to the quarterfinals on aggregate.
MetLife Stadium, home to the New York Football Giants and New York Jets, is the only stadium shared by two NFL teams and annually hosts the world’s biggest events. Last August, MetLife Stadium hosted the International Champions Cup match between Real Madrid C.F. and FC Bayern Munich. The July 22nd match marks Juventus F.C. and FC Barcelona’s first appearance at MetLife Stadium.
“Hosting world-class international soccer has become an annual tradition and an integral part of MetLife Stadium’s event line-up,” said Ron VanDeVeen, President and CEO of MetLife Stadium. “We’d like to thank Relevent Sports for the great partnership in bringing the ICC back to East Rutherford for the third time and we look forward to providing a great gameday experience for Barca and Juve fans.”
Tickets for the July 22 Juventus F.C. v. FC Barcelona match at MetLife Stadium will go on sale to the general public beginning Tuesday, April 4 at 11:00AM ET and will be available online at ticketmaster.com or by calling (800) 745-3000. If tickets remain, fans can purchase at the MetLife Stadium Box Office beginning Wednesday, April 5 at 11:00AM ET (Box Office hours: M – F, 11am – 5pm). Fans can find venue-specific and other ticket information for matches of the 2017 International Champions Cup presented by Heineken at www.internationalchampionscup.com.
“The International Champions Cup is proud to be hosting matches in New York for the fifth consecutive year,” said Charlie Stillitano, Chairman at Relevent Sports. “Our decision to host matches at both MetLife Stadium and Red Bull Arena is a testament to the growth in popularity and passion for soccer in this great city. This tournament was created to bring world class clubs to the most renowned venues across the United States and we are thrilled to be doing just that in both of these matches.”
The 2017 International Champions Cup presented by Heineken will run from July 19 – 30 and feature 12 matches played across 11 cities throughout the United States. In total, eight teams from around the globe, including England (Manchester United F.C., Manchester City F.C., Tottenham Hotspur F.C.), Italy (Juventus F.C., AS Roma), France (Paris Saint-Germain F.C.) and Spain (FC Barcelona, Real Madrid C.F.) will compete in this year’s tournament. Each team will play three contests and the club with the most points at the end of the tournament will be crowned champion. Each win in regulation will result in three points and a tie will go straight to a shootout; the winning team in a shootout will receive two points and the losing team will receive one.
Juventus F.C., more commonly known as Juve, is an Italian football club based in Turin, Italy. Founded in 1897, Juventus F.C. has dominated Italy’s Serie A with a record 34 league championships. The awards continue with a record 11 Coppa Italia Cups, seven Supercoppa Italia Cups and two European cup/UEFA Champions League championships. Famous for their black-and-white striped uniforms, the 2016-17 Juventus F.C. squad continues to carry on the club’s legacy in pursuit of a sixth consecutive Serie A title. The current roster features a strong defensive unit, led by Italian nationals Gianluigi Buffon who has 612 total appearances for the club, Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci. Brazilian Dani Alves rounds out the back while German midfielder Sami Khedira mans the midfield. Argentine goalscorer Gonzalo Higuain leads the attack along with Croatian star Mario Mandžukić. The club plays its home matches in Juventus Stadium where is unbeaten since August 2015. For more information on Juventus F.C., please visit www.juventus.com.
Founded in 1899, FC Barcelona is one of the most iconic soccer clubs in the world. With some of the greatest players in soccer history, FC Barcelona has won 24 league titles, 28 Copa Del Rey titles and five UEFA Champions League titles. In 2009, FC Barcelona performed the extraordinary feat of winning all six major trophies they were competing for, winning La Liga, Copa Del Rey, UEFA Champions League, Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup. Between 2008 and 2012, FC Barcelona won two Champions League trophies, three league titles and a World Club Cup title. The Spanish club added to their already illustrious trophy cabinet by winning the ever-elusive treble during the 2014-2015 season; winning La Liga, Copa del Rey, and the crown jewel of European football - The Champions League. The current FC Barcelona squad includes global soccer superstars Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, Andrés Iniesta, Ivan Rakitić and Neymar. For more information on FC Barcelona, please visit www.fcbarcelona.com.
For the second consecutive year, Heineken is the presenting sponsor of the 2017 International Champions Cup. In addition to Heineken, the 2017 tournament features a leading line-up of sponsors, including Ally, Nike, Orlando, Chevrolet, AON, Groupon, VividSeats, Gatorade and Xyience. Additional partners will be announced in the coming months. All matches for the International Champions Cup will be carried on ESPN networks including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and streaming network ESPN3, accessible through WatchESPN and the ESPN App.
Fans can follow the ICC on social media at @intchampionscup for exclusive content and announcements, and join the conversation using #2017ICC. Fans can sign up for up news, updates and ticket information at www.internationalchampionscup.com.
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