Barcelona and Napoli to Play Preseason Friendly Match at Michigan Stadium

In an attempt to continue to cater to the ever-expanding soccer audience in the United States, European powerhouses FC Barcelona and SC Napoli will be among several overseas teams playing exhibition games stateside this summer. As part of the new La Liga-Serie A Cup, the two clubs will square off in Miami, Fla. and Ann Arbor, Mich. in early August.

That's right, Lionel Messi and Blaugrana will be playing at the Big House. This is far from the first time that international soccer has made it's way to Ann Arbor, but it's likely to produce some record attendance numbers given the star power on hand.

After a friendly match at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on Aug. 7, Barcelona and Napoli will head to Michigan Stadium for a second friendly game.

Back in 2014, the Big House hosted a summertime International Champions Cup match between Manchester United and Real Madrid before a record-setting crowd of 109,318. Real Madrid returned to Ann Arbor in 2016 for an ICC match against Chelsea which still brought in over 105,000 spectators. Man United and Liverpool also played at the Big House last year. And now, the defending La Liga champs will clash with the Serie A runners-up.

With a stars like Messi and Luis Suarez coming to Michigan Stadium -- and potentially Neymar or Antoine Greizmann -- the attendance numbers for this friendly will likely continue a record-breaking trend. Napoli brings star power of their own with names like Dries Mertens, Arkadiusz Milik, and Lorenzo Insigne, making this a highly anticipated friendly.