Lucas ready for action

Lucas Moura says the players want to take a winning mentality into our 2018 tour of America.

We have three high-profile International Champions Cup (ICC) matches in San Diego, Los Angeles and Minneapolis.

We kick-off against last season’s Champions League semi-finalists AS Roma at San Diego’s SDCCU Stadium on Wednesday (KO 7.05pm local/3.05am Thursday UK) before La Liga champions Barcelona at the famous Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, Los Angeles on Saturday (kick-off 8.05pm local/4.05am Sunday UK) and finally another Italian test against AC Milan at the US Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, home of the most recent Super Bowl in January, on Tuesday 31 July (7.35pm local/1.35am Wednesday UK).

Lucas, who joined us from PSG in January, can’t wait to get started.

“Roma is a big game to start the tour,” he said. “I have Brazilian friends who have played at Roma. I also played against them (for PSG) last pre-season in America! It’s always tough against Italian teams.

“It’s always a pleasure to play against Barcelona. It’s a big team, big players and for me, it’s an important test.

“We have to try to keep the ball and when we lose it, we try to get it back quickly. That’s why we work hard on our intensity. It’s important because against a team like Barcelona, we cannot lose the ball. If we let their players play, it won’t be good for us.

“Milan are a great team, a famous team like Roma and this is another tough match.

“These games are a big test for us in pre-season but of course, it’s always good to win and we will work hard to win.

“It’s my first pre-season with the Club so I will give my best to show my talent and try to help the team win games. That’s my objective.”