Messi headlines Casa Clásico in Miami

BAYFRONT PARK, Miami — If anyone ever doubted that the FC Barcelona players were enjoying rock star status during the team's summer tour in the United States, Friday's appearance at the Casa Clásico in Miami by five blaugrana stars should be more than enough to silence them.

Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, Andrés Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, and Samuel Umtiti took to the stage here and, with DJ Nice Guy Erwin spinning the crowd into a frenzy, they stepped forward to the front edge of the stage with handfuls of autographed balls and t-shirts and launched them out into sea of flailing arms.

The Casa Clásico, set up by the organizers of the International Champions Cup to provide supporters from both Barça and Real Madrid—the eternal rivals that will be pitted against each other on Saturday night in the first Clásico ever held on US soil—will be open all day Friday and Saturday ahead of the big game.

Located on the waterfront in downtown Miami, the Casa Clásico is the official Fan Fest for the Clásico Miami, which has drawn a plethora of soccer fans to south Florida ahead of Saturday night's match.