LA Galaxy to face Real Madrid in World Football Challenge

The LA Galaxy, in conjunction with Major League Soccer, CAA Sports and Multimedia Sports, announced today the club will return to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the first time since 2007 to take on Spanish power Real Madrid on Saturday, July 16 at 7 p.m. PT.

The match is part of a pre-season tournament called the World Football Challenge that also includes Manchester United FC, Manchester City FC, Barcelona, New England Revolution, Chicago Fire, and Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

Manchester United and Barcelona play at Landover, Maryland, on July 30 in a rematch of the UEFA Champions League final that will take place on May 28 at Wembley Stadium.

“We are very excited to once again welcome back Real Madrid, along with manager José Mourinho and their cadre of international talent, to Los Angeles,” Galaxy president Tom Payne said. “Last year, more than 89,000 fans witnessed these two clubs face off and the excitement for this rematch, at the historic Coliseum, will surely capture the attention of all sports fans in Southern California.”

A nine-time European champion and 31-time champion of Spain’s La Liga, Real Madrid recently won the Copa del Rey and currently sit in second place in La Liga, while also advancing to the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League. Now in his first season as the club’s head coach, Jose Mourinho has a wealth of talent at his disposal including Portuguese internationals Cristiano Ronaldo, Ricardo Carvalho, and Pepe, German internationals Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira, as well as Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso, Raul Albiol and Alvaro Arbeloa, all of whom were members of Spain’s winning team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

The Galaxy first played Real Madrid on July 18, 2005, at The Home Depot Center, losing 2-0 behind goals from Michael Owen and Roberto Soldado in front of a capacity crowd. The two sides met again last year in front of more than 89,000 fans on August 7 at the Rose Bowl. The Galaxy led that game 2-0 at halftime on goals from Todd Dunivant and Landon Donovan, only for Real to score three unanswered goals in the second half, two from Gonzalo Higuain and one from Xabi Alonso, to claim a 3-2 win. This game is also expected to see Galaxy midfielder David Beckham face his former team for the first time since joining the Galaxy in 2007.

The site of Galaxy’s CONCACAF Champions’ Cup victory in 2000, the Coliseum has played host to a number of matches in the club’s history. The Galaxy most recently played at the Coliseum in 2007 as part of SuperLiga against CD Chivas de Guadalajara and in 2005 against Chivas USA as part of a doubleheader that also included Mexico’s Club America facing CD Chivas de Guadalajara, a doubleheader that attracted more than 88,000 fans to the stadium, making it the biggest crowd ever to see an MLS game.

2011 World Football Challenge
As of May 16, 2011