FC Barcelona to play Kingfisher East Bengal

After winning the 2011 SAFF Championship, Indian football fans have another reason to cheer. As per sources, Kingfisher East Bengal FC have been approached by FC Barcelona to play a pre-season friendly match on the 11th of August 2012. This would be the third major foreign club to visit India in less than a year after Blackburn Rovers FC played Pune and FC Bayern Munich played the Indian national football side.

Earlier FC Barcelona’s plans were to tour India in 2013, but the Asian representative of the Catalan giants is said to have contacted the Red and Gold Brigade to pre-pone their tour. East Bengal’s General secretary Debabrata Sarkar confirmed the news earlier this week, and added that talks were at a preliminary stage.

If Lionel Messi is available for Barcelona, it would be his second trip to the city in less than a year although he could be summoned for national duty at the Olympics.

However, if the match is set to take place at the Salt Lake Stadium, the conditions of the stadium need to be improved. The lights at major Indian stadiums have a habit of going off at crucial moments, with the ones at the Salt Lake disappointing fans around the 80th minute at the Kolkata Derby last year.

East Bengal and FC Barcelona are similarly positioned in their leagues, with both clubs having to play catch-up with leaders Dempo SC and Real Madrid CF respectively.