Tannenwald: Philadelphia Union And Real Madrid Friendly In Negotiation

Jonathan Tannenwald reports, on his Philly.com The Goalkeeper, that the Philadelphia Union are currently negotiating with Spanish giants Real Madrid for a possible friendly this summer.

Madrid were reportedly set to play Mexican club Club America in the World Football Classic on July 23, but according to Kerith Gabriel, of Philly.com and the Daily News, the fixture is a "scratch" on WFC's schedule. The Linc was supposed to play host for the game, which now leaves the Union and Madrid with a possible location to play a friendly.

The Union would have to work out a schedule change with the Seattle Sounders to make the friendly happen, as the two teams are currently scheduled by MLS to play in Seattle on July 23. Real Salt Lake and the Union came to an agreement earlier this year to reschedule a game at Rio Tinto in order to give Salt Lake a week of rest prior to playing in the CONCACAF Champions League Final.

As Tannenwald points out in his article, the only open Saturday left on the schedule would be October 8. The problem is that October 8 is the last "rest" weekend that the Union have, with the Salt Lake reschedule removing their other one. This puts the team at a disadvantage heading towards the playoffs when almost every other team in MLS has two weeks of rest in the final three months.