Eight Must See Games In August

The pre-season games are almost completed and we are less than two weeks from competitive games again in Europe. In looking at the schedule, these are the eight games I would love to see in person in August.

My criteria was that a team could only be mentioned once, and that I had not included the match previously in our top pre-season list:

August 2  Arsenal vs Juventus: Emirates Cup. Juventus has lined up quite a British tour with games at Old Trafford and The Emirates. The Emirates Cup has become the best pre-season tournament in the world and this promises to be a great game in front of a sell-out crowd.

August 7  Brazil vs Belgium: Olympic Games. Olympic gold for soccer is the only major tournament that Brazil has not won, and this time they have brought Milan’s new signing Ronaldinho and Real Madrid forward Robinho to China to bring home the gold.

August 9  Manchester City vs AC Milan: Friendly. Yes Ronaldinho and Pato will be in China at the Olympics but a certain other Brazilian named Kaka should be in Manchester. An opportunity to see the second best player in the world is too good to pass up.

August 25  Portsmouth vs Manchester United. They will warm up for this game at Wembley in the Charity Shield but this league game at Fratton Park will be no exhibition game. Portsmouth starts the season away to Chelsea and then comes home to play United. Not an easy start to the season. Fratton Park is never an easy place to play and I would not be surprised to see Portsmouth take at least a point here.

August 30  FC Twente vs PSV: League. This game is the home debut for FC Twente coach Steve McClaren—aka The Wally With The Brolly. It will be interesting to see what kind of reception McClaren gets and whether he can rebuild his reputation in Holland.

August 31  Aston Villa vs Liverpool: League. Will Gareth Barry be returning to Villa Park in a Liverpool shirt? Will Rafa and Martin O’Neill have a warm embrace before the game? Behind all the pre-match drama this will be an important early test for Liverpool. Villa is the sort of place where teams like Liverpool are supposed to show that they are title contenders.

Chelsea vs Spurs: League. Always an exciting game between two strong rivals. That the game takes place on the eve of the transfer deadline adds to the intrigue as you wonder who will be the forwards for both teams on September 1.

Celtic vs Rangers: League. One of the biggest rivalries in sports, this Glasgow derby is never a game for the faint of heart. These two teams will once again battle it out for the Scottish title and the winner of this game will get an early psychological advantage.