Barcelona stars set to clash in tasty international friendlies

It’s the international break which is pretty boring as we all know but actually this time around there are some fairly tasty fixtures going on this week as teams gear up for the World Cup.

The best of this week’s action is on Friday when there’s three really decent games and lots of Barcelona stars on show and even more interestingly, against each other.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen takes on Iniesta, Pique and Alba

Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

There’s a real heavyweight clash in Dusseldorf as Germany and Spain go head to head.

With no Manuel Neuer for Germany, Marc-Andre ter Stegen should get the nod in goal for the hosts and he may well come up against some familiar faces.

Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba and Andres Iniesta have all been called up by Julen Lopetegui and will be hoping to get the better of Ter Stegen on Friday night.

Germany currently top the Fifa rankings and their strength in depth is hugely impressive. They are one of the favourites to claim glory in Russia and this should be a really interesting match-up.

Ousmane Dembele and Samuel Umtiti face Yerry Mina

Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

Over in France Les Bleus welcome Colombia to Paris in a match that could see Ousmane Dembele coming up against Yerry Mina.

Samuel Umtiti could also feature while Lucas Digne is also in Didier Deschamps’s squad for the game.

France qualified for the World Cup by topping a group containing Sweden and Netherlands while Colombia took the fourth qualification place in South America after finishing behind Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina.

Can Italy stop Messi?

Friday also sees Lionel Messi in action as Argentina take on Italy at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.

Argentina made a meal of qualification and needed a Messi hat-trick to qualify for the World Cup in their final group game against Ecuador.

Yet Italy had an even more miserable time as they were stunned by Sweden in the playoffs meaning the four-time winners of the competition miss out for only the second time in their history.