FC Barcelona (minus coach Xavi) travels to Miami after reaching deal with Lewandowski

FC Barcelona’s two-week summer U.S. tour kicks off with a sold-out friendly game against Inter Miami on Tuesday night at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.

The iconic Spanish team, which boasts 110 million Instagram followers and a roster loaded with top talent, traveled on Saturday to South Florida, where it will finalize a $50.4 million deal with Bayern Munich for the transfer of two-time FIFA Men’s Player of the Year Robert Lewandowski. The deal is subject to him passing a physical and signing the contract, both of which are expected to happen this weekend in Miami.

Lewandowski scored a staggering 344 goals in 375 games over eight seasons with Bayern Munich, including 50 goals in 46 games last season. His pending transfer has dominated European soccer headlines in recent days.

The other big news out of Barca camp was that coach Xavi Hernandez was unable to board the flight due to passport issues. The club said he is expected to join the team in Miami “in the coming days.”

Spanish sports papers AS, Mundo Deportivo and others reported that U.S. authorities asked Xavi for additional documentation because of three visits he made to Iran while he was player and coach for Qatari club Al-Sadd after leaving Barcelona from 2015 until 2019.

Barcelona and Inter Miami will hold a ticketed open training session Monday night at DRV PNK Stadium, and the game is at 8 p.m. Tuesday. The Barcelona team will then fly to Las Vegas for a “Clasico” game against Real Madrid on July 23 at Allegiant Stadium. It will be the second meeting between the old rivals on U.S. soil after Barca won 3-2 at Hard Rock Stadium in July 2017 before a sellout crowd of 66,014.

After playing in Las Vegas, Barca will head to the Cotton Bowl in Dallas for a game against Italian club Juventus. The tour ends on July 30 at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey against the New York Red Bulls.

It will be the fans’ first chance to see new Barca signings Lewandowski, Raphinha and Andreas Christensen in action. Raphina joined the team on a $58 million transfer from Leeds United and Christensen came from Chelsea.

Three Barcelona reserve team players — Ez Abde, Alejandro Balde and new signing Pablo Torre — are also confirmed to be traveling with the squad for the tour.

Inter Miami coach Phil Neville is calling this “the most important week in club history” with two league games and the friendly against Barcelona. Asked what it will be like to face Barca’s superstar lineup, Neville smiled and replied:

“Everyday they seem to sign a top player. I emailed Xavi [Asensi], our chief business officer, who used to work at Barcelona, and asked him to text me Barcelona’s team. When he sent it through, I erased it straight away [laughing] … and there was talk of Lewandowski signing as well. They’re a fantastic team. It’s the biggest match in the club’s history. First time this stadium is sold out for an Inter Miami game. It’s so important on so many levels.”

Midfielder Alejandro Pozuelo, who joined Inter Miami from Toronto FC last week, is a native of Spain and played in the Spanish league early in his career. He is excited about Tuesday’s match.

“We want to have fun, which is most important, because it is a privilege to play against a club like Barca and it’s not every day you get that chance,” Pozuelo said. “I was lucky enough to play against them when I played in Spain, but most teammates have not and will be very motivated.”

Neville said his players are fired up to face Barca. Although Inter Miami will have played two league matches over the previous six days, Neville expects his players to find the energy on Tuesday.

“We have sports science all around the world telling us about recovery and rest and ice baths ... but when you have Barca here and 20,000 people here celebrating, you find the energy,” Neville said.

The Barcelona traveling party will include club president Joan Laporta, members of his board and legends Thierry Henry and Juliano Belletti. The club is using the tour to boost its presence in the country, one of the prime targets for expanding the Barca name globally. While in Miami they will meet with a local supporter group and attend a private event at the Perez Art Museum.

Note: Tickets to the open training session are available at www.intermiamicf.com