Real Madrid set off for LA: Mayoral misses the trip
Carlo Ancelotti has taken 28 players, including Benzema, for the tour of the United States, in which the team will play three friendlies.
Real Madrid are on their way to North America. The Spanish and European champions, with president Florentino Pérez heading the expedition, left Barajas at three in the afternoon for the United States. After a journey of over 12 hours, they are scheduled to land in Los Angeles at 6:15 p.m. local time EDT today (03:15 hours CEST on Wednesday in Spain). Upon arrival, the expedition will be taken to their residence, The Beverly Hills Hotel, just over 20 kilometers from the Los Angeles airport. Karim Benzema will be waiting for them there, having obtained permission from the club to extend his vacation for a few days and return to work with the squad during the tour.
Apart from Benzema, Ancelotti has taken 28 players on the trip. Borja Mayoral’s absence was the big surprise. According to Cadena SER, the striker was unable to travel with the rest of his team mates due to an issue with his Covid-19 booster jab but he is expected to fly out to the United States laer this week. Reinier, who is looking to move to another club on loan, has also stayed in Madrid. The Italian coach has called up four Castilla players: goalkeepers Luis López and Lucas Cañizares, right-back Vinicius Tobias and striker Juanmi Latasa.
The tour will last 12 days and the team will establish its base in the Californian city. Ancelotti’s players will rest at the Beverly Hills Hotel and will work in the facilities of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). They will travel to Las Vegas and San Francisco to play the friendlies that are scheduled against Barcelona and Club América on the same day of the matches (Sunday 24 and Wednesday 27 - both early morning kick-offs in Spain). The last match of the stay in the United States will be against Juventus in Los Angeles in the early hours of Sunday 31. After the game against the Bianconeri, Madrid team will go directly to the airport to return to Spain, where they are expected to arrive on the afternoon of Sunday 31. Then it will be a case of preparing for the start of official competition. On August 10, the European Super Cup against Eintracht Frankfurt in Helsinki and on the 14th, the league gets underway with the champions away at recently promoted Almería.