It was a warm welcome back to the States for Christian Pulisic on Sunday. Pulisic carries the hopes and dreams of America with him as the young star for the U.S. Men’s National Team, and he had an incredible day against Liverpool. Pulisic got Dortmund on the board with a penalty kick in the 66th minute, and then proceeded to control the last 10 minutes of the match in leading the German club to a 3-1 victory. He was able to calmly put one into the corner of the net on a break, giving Dortmund the lead in the 89th minute, and then set up Jacob Bruun Larsen’s goal in extra time after a quick move and shot led to a big rebound that Larsen put away. The exciting youngster will play on home soil one more time in the International Champions Cup, when Dortmund takes on Benfica on Wednesday.
The International Champions Cup brings some of the top clubs in Europe to cities around the world that normally don’t get to see top flight football. The match will take place at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at 8:05 p.m. ET on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. Catch every moment of the match live on ESPN News.
International Champions Cup Betting at BookMaker.eu
Benfica +247
Borussia Dortmund +101
Draw +266
Over/Under 3
What to watch for
Benfica does not have the name recognition internationally that many other clubs do, so they jump at the opportunity to play in events like the International Champions Cup. This club has been one of the top two clubs in Portugal over the last decade, trading league championships with arch-rival Porto.
The exhibition season has been good for Benfica thus far. Last week, the club played in a closed-door scrimmage against English club Swindon Town, and easily dispatched of the lower tier team by a score of 5-0. Over the weekend, they took a big step up in competition by taking on Sevilla in Switzerland, and Benfica was able to slip away with a 1-0 win thanks to a Nicolas Castillo header off of a corner kick in the second half.
Borussia is looking to end its trip to America at 3-0 after some impressive performances in their first two matches. Dortmund has been a bane to English clubs, beating Manchester City 1-0 thanks to a Mario Gotze penalty kick on Friday, and they erased a 1-0 deficit in beating Liverpool over the weekend. Although Lucien Favre’s side will be playing its third match in six days here, they will still be fresh. The ICC allows unlimited substitutions and Favre made the most of them in order to accommodate the busy schedule.
Benfica Player to Watch
It’s hard to have a better debut than Castillo did over the weekend. The Chilean international was Benfica’s biggest acquisition over the summer, with the club spending a decent amount of coin to bring him over from UNAM Pumas in Liga MX. He has been an incredible goal scorer over the last couple seasons, scoring 24 goals in 23 matches with Universidad Catolica in Chile and notching 24 goals in 32 matches during his time in Mexico. Getting the lone goal in his first match will have many Benfica fans excited for him this year.
Borussia Dortmund Player to Watch
Pulisic has to be the one to talk about once more. Many fans have shown up at Dortmund’s first two matches in order to see Pulisic and he has delivered. His quick first step and ability to make defenders miss has been on full display in America, and he will look to do it once more.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
There’s no reason to go against Borussia Dortmund now. They will not have to deal with the travel lag that Benfica will have to, and that will help them get the win.
International Champions Cup Odds: Borussia Dortmund 2, Benfica 0
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