World Football's 6 Best Preseason Friendlies You Need to Watch

Football never really casts you aside any more—not if you're particularly hardcore with your summer watching.

Since the end of the last domestic season, we've had World Cup qualifiers, the Confederations Cup and the Under-21 European Championships. Meanwhile the Under-20 World Cup has reached the semifinal stage and the Europa League's preliminaries are already under way.

Now it's July and preseason is getting underway again, with Europe's major leagues set to resume at varying dates across August.

There are plenty of friendlies that are going to be worth keeping an eye on. Some carry sub-plots, others just feature some of the biggest teams.

Here are six of the best.

6. Monaco vs. Tottenham

When: August 3

Where: Stade Louis II, Monaco

Time: 6:30 p.m. CET

Claudio Ranieri's Monaco side have wasted no time splashing the cash since being promoted to Ligue 1 last season. Radamel Falcao, James Rodriguez, Joao Moutinho, Jeremy Toulalan and Ricardo Carvalho are among the incomers the club hope will help them compete with PSG for the French title next season.

They welcome Andre Villas-Boas' Tottenham side, boosted by the signing of Paulinho and Gareth Bale seemingly staying, to the Stade Louis at the beginning of August for an intriguing friendly. 

5. Emirates Cup

Who: Arsenal, Napoli, FC Porto, Galatasaray

When: August 13-14

Where: Emirates Stadium, London

Time: 2 p.m. and 4:20 p.m. BST each day

Fans can treat themselves to four games from some of Europe's top teams at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium just before the new season gets underway in August.

Galatasaray will play Porto while Arsenal will take on Napoli on the first day, with the Gunners meeting Gala the following day and Porto playing Napoli. The team with the most points after the two days is crowned the winner. Each goal is worth a point as well as the conventional points system for the result of each match.

4. Chelsea vs. Inter Milan

When: August 2

Where: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis

Time: 8 p.m. ET

Chelsea taking on Inter Milan in the International Champions Cup is the most interesting fixture of the first-round draw. Jose Mourinho, newly installed back at Stamford Bridge, will be going head-to-head with his former side in Indiana.

More exciting fixtures should follow, with AC Milan, Valencia, Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, Juventus and Everton also involved in the tournament. 

3. Audi Cup

When: July 31 to August 1

Where: Allianz Arena, Munich

Time: 6:15 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. CET

Who: Manchester City, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Sao Paulo

A different format to the Emirates Cup, the Audi Cup consists of two semifinals and a final over two days of exciting fixtures in Bayern's Allianz Arena.

There will be a third-place playoff, too.

England's Manchester City take on AC Milan in the first semifinal, with the winners meeting Bayern Munich or Sao Paulo in the showpiece the following day. 

2. PSG vs. Real Madrid

When: July 27

Where: Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg (Sweden)

Time: 8 p.m. CET

Carlo Ancelotti will barely have had time to clear his belongings from his Paris apartment by the time he leads his new charges, Real Madrid, out against PSG in Sweden at the end of July.

The French champions will take on Los Blancos at the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, with both teams likely to be showing off their expensive summer signings. 

1. Bayern Munich vs. Barcelona

When: July 24

Where: Allianz Arena, Munich

Time: 7:30 p.m. CET

This might just be a preseason friendly, but beneath the surface there are plenty of storylines that will underline the meeting between Bayern Munich and Barcelona at the Allianz Arena in July.

La Blaugrana will still be hurting from their 7-0 aggregate defeat to the German champions in the Champions League semifinal this year. Meanwhile, Bayern will be managed by a certain Pep Guardiola, who it is fair to say is a fairly familiar face to the Catalans.