The BVB coaching staff and squad will be heading across the Atlantic on Wednesday as they embark upon their nine-day summer tour of the United States of America. Alongside a series of marketing stops in three cities, the Black & Yellows' agenda includes a number of training sessions and some matches in the International Champions Cup (ICC).

Having already played in the USA in May to mark the opening of the new Los Angeles Football Club stadium, BVB will be heading stateside again on Wednesday morning with a direct flight from Düsseldorf to Chicago. On the next day, Thursday, there will be two training sessions at the "Soldier Field" stadium in Chicago, followed by another morning session and an evening friendly on Friday. That match, which kicks off at 20:05 local time (3:05 CET), is the first of three high-calibre friendlies, with reigning English champions Manchester City the opponents.

They will leave Chicago on Saturday morning for Charlotte, where coach Lucien Favre will hold two training sessions before the Black & Yellows take on Liverpool in their next friendly on Sunday. The kick-off will be at 16:05 local time (22:05 CET) – late, but not too late for our fans at home.

Pittsburgh will be the third and final stop of the USA tour. Though not usually the case on such trips, this summer's tour has been planned so that the Monday is entirely dedicated to sport, with two training sessions on the agenda. On Tuesday too, there will be morning and afternoon training sessions either side of some marketing stops. Then, after being put through their paces again on Wednesday morning, BVB will face Portugal's record champions Benfica to round off their tour (20:05 local time/2:05 CET).

World Cup participants Marco Reus, Lukasz Piszczek and full-back Achraf Hakimi, who arrives on loan from Real Madrid, will link up with the squad during the USA tour.

"We've planned PR appointments around football and not vice versa," explained Managing Director Carsten Cramer, who is naturally hoping that the team will use their Transatlantic trip to "reach as many people as possible and generate as much interest as possible".

Due to the time differences, you will find the most up-to-date information and news on our Facebook page or our Twitter account. Daily summaries will then follow on bvb.de.
Boris Rupert