Non-League Chesterfield host friendly between European giants Marseille and Real Betis

Chesterfield’s Technique Stadium tonight plays host to some of the games elites’ as Marseille face Real Betis in a friendly.

Both clubs currently tour the UK, as they prepare for the start of their respective campaigns, with Marseille having already played Norwich, where they fell to a 3-0 defeat, and Middlesborough, where they lost 2-0.

For the newly crowned Copa Del Rey Champions, Real Betis, this game kicks off their pre-season tour of the UK, as they will also face Brentford on Saturday.

Former Premier League winning manager Manuel Pellegrini has included his new signing, central defender, Luiz Felipe in the squad for the UK tour as they look to build upon a fifth-place finish last season.

The newly capped Italian international joins Betis on a free after leaving Lazio, where he made 144 appearances across five seasons in the Eternal City, and will look to impress in Derbyshire tonight.

The player to watch for Los Verdiblancos is likely to be French World Cup winner, attacking midfielder, Nabil Fekir, who contributed six goals and eight assists in the Spanish top flight last campaign.

The 29-year-old almost became a signature signing for Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool back in 2018 while at Lyon however, a £53m move collapsed at the last moment.

Pellegrini’s squad is as follows:

Marseille visits England as one of France’s most successful sides, with nine Ligue 1 titles, 10 French Cups, and holding the honour of being the only French winner of the Champions League. They are a club steeped in history and success.

Dimitri Payet is still their star man aged 35 amassing 22 goal contributions in 31 Ligue 1 games last season, that’s more goal contributions than current Balon D’or holder Lionel Messi, who managed 20 in league play.

A player to keep an eye on though is wing-back Jonathan Clauss, who has joined Igor Tudor’s side this summer in a £6.75m move from Lens amid strong interest from Manchester United and Chelsea.

It has been a remarkable rise to glory for the 29-year-old, only making his top-flight debut in the 2020/21 season but since then Clauss has been named in back-to-back Ligue 1 Team of the Seasons, earning him his big move.

The explosive defender contributed five goals and 11 assists last season, more than Trent Alexander-Arnold for Liverpool, as he helped catapult Lens to a remarkable seventh-place finish.

New-boy Clauss joins up with his teammates in a star-studded Marseille squad:

Both teams are without any injuries coming into the game, making for a mouth-watering tie where world-class players look to sprinkle their magic inside a stadium that has been compelled to non-league football since 2018.

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