Real Madrid and Barcelona are exploring the possibility of facing each other in the United States again next summer, various sources have told ESPN.
The Clasico rivals played in Las Vegas on July 24 last year, with Barca prevailing 1-0 in front of a crowd of almost 63,000 at the Allegiant Stadium.
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Madrid and Barca also played in Miami in 2017, with the Catalan side winning 3-2 on that occasion, and the idea this time would be to find a venue on the West Coast, with sources telling ESPN Los Angeles and San Francisco are two of the options on the table.
Both Spanish clubs are keen to continue their growth in North America and often choose the States to host their summer tours.
In addition to last summer’s Clasico, Barca also played in Miami, Dallas and New York against Inter Miami, Juventus and the New York Red Bulls. They could return to New York as part of this year’s trip, too.
Madrid, meanwhile, faced Club America in San Francisco and Juventus in Los Angeles as part of their preparation for the current campaign.
Juventus — who along with Madrid and Barca are the third team left pushing for a European Super League — could also return to the States for what would be a series of pre-season friendlies despite their current institutional problems, while sources say Premier League involvement is also being looked into.
Domestically, Madrid and Barca will play each other three times in just over a month. They meet in the two-legged Copa del Rey semifinal on March 2 and April 5, with a league fixture at Camp Nou sandwiched between those games in the middle of March.
That will take the number of official games between the sides this season to five, with Barca recently beating 3-1 Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup final, but taking the match to the States remains appealing to them both.
They feel the American market is attractive from an economic point of view and in terms of increasing their fan base.
