SMI Sports / August 05, 2015

NEW YORK (August 6, 2015) – With ACF Fiorentina's 1-0 victory at a sold-out Stamford Bridge over Chelsea last night, the 2015 International Champions Cup wrapped up its third year. The three separate tournaments, International Champions Cup North America Presented by Guinness, International Champions Cup Australia Presented by Audi and International Champions China, featured 15 teams and 23 matches across seven countries and four continents.

The three tournaments, hosted by Relevent Sports, a division of RSE Ventures – a multi-national sports and entertainment venture firm with a focus on new technologies – continues to change the face of pre-season soccer. These matches were not just a collection of friendlies, but competitive matches with a champion that had 11 sell-outs with nearly one million fans in attendance and broadcasted to 169 countries across the globe.

After an exciting affair in front of a sold-out Soldier Field in Chicago that served as the championship match for the International Champions Cup North America, Paris Saint-Germain defeated Manchester United 2-0 to take home the crown. Paris Saint-Germain finished with 10 points overall, besting the New York Red Bulls. Manchester United, the winner of the 2014 ICC, finished third with nine, including wins over Club America, San Jose Earthquakes and FC Barcelona. Paris Saint-Germain also sported two of the three top goal scorers of the tournament, as Jean-Kevin Augustin and Zlatan Ibrahimovic each scored three goals apiece. Luis Suarez, star striker for FC Barcelona, also scored three goals during the ICC North America.

Fresh off the ICC crown, Paris Saint-Germain looks to defend their Ligue 1 title and go deeper in the UEFA Champions League than last year’s round of eight showing. Manchester United will look to use the positives from this years ICC to improve on last year’s fourth place English Premier League finish, while Chelsea will aim to put the ICC behind them and defend their EPL crown. FC Barcelona, the reigning La Liga and UEFA Champions League winners, look to use the competiveness of the ICC to begin the 2015-2016 campaign on the right foot.

Real Madrid, who was the only team to participate in two ICC tournaments this summer, took home both the International Champions Cup Australia and International Champions Cup China crowns. They defeated Manchester City 4-1 to clinch the title in front of a sold-out crowd of nearly 100,000 fans, setting a record for the highest attended soccer match at Melbourne Cricket Ground. They then followed this up by downing AC Milan in penalty kicks in Shanghai to take the championship in China.

Highlights of the tournament included 93,266 fans for the sold out Barcelona vs. LA Galaxy match at Rose Bowl Stadium, 78,914 fans for the Chelsea and Barcelona match at FedExField and a sold-out crowd of 68,416 fans for Manchester United vs. Barcelona at Levi’s Stadium. Further, more than 110,000 fans packed the stadiums for the matches in China, including two sell-outs in Shanghai and Guangzhou.

10 teams from across the globe, including England (Manchester United, Chelsea FC), Portugal (SL Benfica), France (Paris Saint-Germain), Mexico (Club América), Spain (FC Barcelona), Italy (ACF Fiorentina) and the United States (San Jose Earthquakes, LA Galaxy and New York Red Bulls) competed in the 2015 International Champions Cup North America Presented by Guinness. The participating teams have won a total of 108 domestic league titles, 107 domestic cup titles, six CONCACAF Champions League titles and 10 UEFA Champions League titles. The teams feature nine of the 2014-2015 FIFA Ballon d'Or nominees, as well as 30 of the top 100 players in the world as chosen yearly by renowned English magazine FourFourTwo.

The final results International Champions Cup North America are as follows:

International Champions Cup North America Results

• LA Galaxy def. Club América (2-1)

• Club América def. San Jose Earthquakes (2-1)

• Manchester United def. Club América (1-0)

• Paris Saint-Germain def. SL Benfica (3-2)

• Paris Saint-Germain def. ACF Fiorentina (4-2)

• Manchester United def. San Jose Earthquakes (3-1)

• FC Barcelona def. LA Galaxy (2-1)

• New York Red Bulls def. Chelsea (4-2)

• ACF Fiorentina def. SL Benfica 0-0 (5-4 PKs)

• Manchester United def. FC Barcelona (3-1)

• Chelsea def. Paris Saint-Germain 0-0 (6-5 PKs)

• New York Red Bulls def. SL Benfica (2-1)

• Chelsea def. FC Barcelona 2-2 (4-2 PKs)

• SL Benfica def. Club America 0-0 (4-3 PKs)

• Paris Saint-Germain def. Manchester United (2-0)

• ACF Fiorentina def. FC Barcelona (2-1)

• ACF Fiorentina def. Chelsea (1-0)

International Champions Cup North America Standings

• Paris Saint-Germain – 10 points (Champions)

• New York Red Bulls – 10 points

• Manchester United – 9 points

• ACF Fiorentina - 8 points

• LA Galaxy - 7 points

• Chelsea FC - 4 points

• FC Barcelona - 4 points

• Club América - 4 points

• SL Benfica - 3 points

• San Jose Earthquakes - 0 points

The International Champions Cup Australia included soccer powerhouses Real Madrid C.F., A.S. Roma and Manchester City FC. The three clubs boast 11 UEFA Champions League titles, 39 domestic league titles and 31 league cup titles.  The teams feature 21 of the top 100 players in the world as chosen yearly by renowned English magazine FourFourTwo.

The final results for the International Champions Cup Australia are as follows:

International Champions Cup Australia Results

• A.S. Roma def. Real Madrid C.F. 0-0 (7-6 PKs)

• Manchester City FC def. A.S. Roma 2- 2 (5-4 PKs)

• Real Madrid C.F. def. Manchester City FC (4-1)

International Champions Cup Australia Standings

• Real Madrid – 4 points (Champions)

• A.S. Roma – 3 points

• Manchester City – 2 points

The International Champions Cup China included Real Madrid C.F., AC Milan and Inter Milan. The participating teams have won a total of 20 UEFA Champions Cup, 68 domestic league titles and 33 domestic cups with 11 of the top 100 players in world as chosen by renowned English magazine FourFourTwo.
 

The final results for the International Champions Cup China are as follows:

 

International Champions Cup China Results

 

• AC Milan def. FC Internazionale (1-0)

• Real Madrid C.F. def. FC Internazionale (3-0)

• Real Madrid C.F. def. AC Milan 0-0 (10-9 PKs)

 

International Champions Cup China Standings

• Real Madrid – 5 points (Champions)

• AC Milan – 4 points

• FC Internazionale – 0 points