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What's the story?
Recently, in a first, Kerala Blasters announced a pre-season tournament involving Melbourne City FC and Girona FC. The two teams will arrive and play in an exhibition tournament in Kochi later this month.
Finally, the fixtures for the tournament have been announced, with Kerala Blasters taking on Melbourne City FC in the opener.
In case you didn't know...
Girona FC currently plies their trade in La Liga, where they finished tenth last season while Melbourne City FC plays in the A-League. Coincidentally, Girona FC and Melbourne City FC are both a part of the City Football Group.
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The Group is possibly known best as the owners of Premier League Champions Manchester City. It remains to be seen whether the tournament's motives go deeper than being a friendly one.
The heart of the matter
July 24 will see the beginning of the three-team tournament in Kochi featuring Kerala Blasters FC, Melbourne City FC, and Girona FC. The Blasters will open the tournament when they face Australian side Melbourne City FC on the same day.
Three days later, on July 27, Melbourne will face Spanish side Girona FC. Girona are the first ever Spanish La Liga side to visit India. The tournament will end with Kerala Blasters facing Girona FC. The match will be played on July 28.
All the matches will take place at 7:00 PM at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi, the tickets for which are available at the stadium box office from 10:30 AM to 6:00 PM.
What's next?
Kerala Blasters have done pretty well so far to prepare for the upcoming season. They have made some big transfers such as Anas Edathodika and Holicharan Narzary. Blasters have also looked to the future and signed India U17 star Dheeraj Singh.
This tournament will only help the Blasters further before the upcoming Indian Super League season. They will be up against difficult opposition and we'll have to wait and see how they fare.
Will the tournament give Kerala Blasters the right boost to go ahead and win the 2018/19 Indian Super League?
Do let us know in the comments below.
