Tour 2017: Lingard Excited For Real Clash

Jesse Lingard is hoping Manchester United can call on previous experience to beat Real Madrid during Tour 2017, presented by Aon, ahead of the UEFA Super Cup meeting between the sides on 8 August.

The Reds will take on the La Liga and Champions League winners at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California on 23 July, just under two weeks before the teams battle it out for silverware in Skopje, Macedonia.

Lingard was on the scoresheet when United beat Barcelona at the same stadium during pre-season in 2015, a match the midfielder hopes will serve the players well ahead of this summer's visit.

"We’re used to playing top teams in pre-season, such as Real Madrid and Barcelona, and it’s always a good experience," he told ManUtd.com.

"Hopefully, we can perform well in those games and take good form into the new season. Every tour game is important, even if it’s just to build match fitness, and it’s good that everyone can get a run out and get a taste of what it’s like and take that forward.

"It’ll be good to be back playing at that stadium. I remember the team we had in the second half [in the 3-1 win over Barcelona in 2015] was quite a young team, including myself, Andreas Pereira, Adnan Januzaj, Tyler Blackett and James Wilson, but we linked up really well and got the win.

"This year, I’m most looking forward to the games themselves and building team spirit with the lads. Pre-season tours are good for bonding with each other, and in our free time there’s the chance to go out and explore."

Lingard can look back on the 2016/17 campaign fondly, having helped United win three pieces of silverware, but is under no illusions about the hard work that lies ahead for the Reds.

Asked what comes to mind in pre-season, he said: "Running! Last summer, we did a lot of work with the ball but we were still running, so we had the best of both.

"I think there were a lot of positives last season," he added. "The manager’s got us well drilled, which we need to take into next season, and if we can add more goals to our game to get wins instead of draws, I don’t see why we can’t be be challenging."