Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts is home to American football’s reigning champion New England Patriots, though a different variety of football will be on display there Sunday when Roma and Juventus clash in the 2017 International Champions Cup.
It has been a summer of similarity for the two sides. Juventus lost their defensive leader, and arguably the best in the world Leonardo Bonucci, as well as one of the standout performers last season in Dani Alves.
In Rome, the summer fire sale started with Leandro Paredes, quickly followed by Mohamed Salah and Antonio Rudiger as new sporting director Monchi begins remoulding the club’s recruitment and transfer structure.
That is though where things end. Juve have spent heavily again, tying up permanent deals for Juan Cuardado and Medhi Benatia, as well as adding Douglas Costa and Federico Bernardeschi to the ranks for a cool €40 million each.
Roma have spent almost the same total amount, but spread over nine players with right-back Rick Karsdorp currently the most expensive at €14m.
How the teams are shaping up
Both the Old Lady and Giallorossi enter the match in similar form, with the reigning Serie A champions having lost to Barcelona 2-1 on Saturday, with Neymar’s first half brace enough to render a headed goal by Giorgio Chiellini useless.
Claudio Marchisio helped the Bianconeri recover on Wednesday by scoring two goals in the second half of their 3-2 victory against PSG, with his second being the match winner from the penalty spot shortly before full time. In a thrilling match, Gonzalo Higuain was also on target for Juventus.
Meanwhile, Roma, who finished runners-up to last season’s Scudetto winners, started the International Champions Cup with a defeat to that PSG side, though it was on penalties following a 1-1 draw in normal time. Former Lupi defender Maquinhos struck first for the French side before Sadiq Umar equalised for the Giallorossi.
On Tuesday night, Marco Tumminello scored a stoppage time winner to help the Giallorossi beat Tottenham 3-2. Though the Lupi were up 2-0 courtesy of strikes from Diego Perotti and Cengiz Under, the 18-year-old’s late-game efforts tipped the contest after Spurs’ Henry Winks and Vincent Janssen each scored in the final four minutes of the match to almost force penalties.
Breaking new ground
Roma and Juventus have never come up against each other on foreign soil, though both teams have visited the the US for pre-season in recent years with Boston, of which Foxborough is a suburb, holding a unique place for the Giallorossi as it’s the hometown President James Pallotta.
The Lupi also defeated Liverpool in a pair of summer friendlies in 2012 and 2014 at Fenway Park, Boston’s most iconic sports landmark, while the Old Lady last visited the area in July 2003, though lost to Barcelona on penalties at Gillette Stadium in what was also Brazilian star Ronaldinho’s debut for the Blaugrana.
Even though the competitive pressure is relatively low for Sunday’s game, Roma will be looking to win their third consecutive match in Massachusetts and make a statement against the reigning Serie A champions, who they face on the penultimate matchday in the 2017/18 Serie A season – a potential title decider.
Date: Sunday, July 30
Time: 9pm BST/ 10pm CEST/ 4pm E.T.
Where to Watch: Premier Sports (UK) three-hour delay, ESPN (U.S.)
