Lionel Messi, pictured when he played with Argentina, will be at MetLife Stadium iwth Barcelona in July. (Andy Mead/YCJ Photo)

Not one, but two international friendly matches in the International Champions Cup will be played in New Jersey in July.

First, Juventus (Italy) will take on Barcelona (Spain) at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Saturday, July 22 at 6 p.m.

Three days later, Tottenham (England) will meet AS Roma (Italy) at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J., Tuesday, July 25 at 8 p.m.

Both matches will air on ESPN.

“The International Champions Cup is proud to be hosting matches in New York for the fifth consecutive year,” Relevent Sports chairman Charlie Stillitano said in a statement. “Our decision to host matches at both MetLife Stadium and Red Bull Arena is a testament to the growth in popularity and passion for soccer in this great city. This tournament was created to bring world class clubs to the most renowned venues across the United States and we are thrilled to be doing just that in both of these matches.”

Tickets will go on-sale on March 29 at 10 a.m., beginning with an exclusive pre-sale window for Red Bulls RED Members. Tickets go on-sale to the general public on April 4 at 10 a.m.
and will be available online at ticketmaster.com or by calling (800) 745-3000. Fans can find venue-specific and other ticket information for matches of the 2017 International Champions Cup presented by Heineken at www.internationalchampionscup.com.

“We are thrilled to partner with Relevent Sports and host the International Champions Cup again this summer,” Red Bulls general manager Marc de Grandpre said in a press release. “We are excited about providing soccer fans in the Metro area with an excellent international matchup and showcasing our unmatched soccer experience at Red Bull Arena.”

The ICC will run from July 19-30 and feature 12 matches played across 11 cities throughout the United States.

Eight teams, including England (Manchester United F.C., Manchester City F.C., Tottenham Hotspur F.C.), Italy (Juventus F.C., AS Roma), France (Paris Saint-Germain F.C.) and Spain (FC Barcelona, Real Madrid C.F.) will compete in the tournament. Each team will play three games and the club with the most points at the end of the tournament will be crowned champion. Each win in regulation will result in three points and a tie will go straight to a shootout; the winning team in a shootout will receive two points and the losing team will receive one.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.