For the first time in its history, Barcelona will visit Australia in May for a friendly match
Barcelona, the five-time European champion, announced that it will visit Australia for the first time next month to meet a team of the stars of the Australian Football League (AFL) in a friendly in Sydney.
The match will be held in Sydney's Olympic Stadium, which has a capacity of 80,000 spectators, on May 25, a few days before the end of the season.
Australia was a regular stopover for major European clubs, before the country imposed strict restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the past, the presence of prominent clubs such as Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea attracted large numbers of fans for lucrative friendly matches.
A video clip went viral of more than 95,000 spectators singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" before an exhibition match involving Liverpool at Melbourne Cricket Ground in 2013.
United and England's Crystal Palace will play friendlies in Melbourne in July this year, but plans to hold Glasgow's first derby outside Scotland were scrapped when Rangers withdrew from the Sydney Super Cup after complaints from fans.
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