Barcelona's win over Galaxy shows more good than bad about preseason friendlies

PASADENA, Calif. – Every summer, super clubs like Manchester United, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain spend significant portions of their preseasons playing trumped-up friendly matches across the United States. Beyond the direct financial incentives of selling out massive stadiums, the International Champions Cup serves as a beneficial exercise for all parties involved, i.e. teams, players and, most importantly, the fans.

For Major League Soccer teams like the Los Angeles Galaxy and San Jose Earthquakes, adding a couple of midseason friendly games may not initially seem like it helps performance in the regular season. Take a look at new Galaxy midfielder Steven Gerrard, however, and playing 45 minutes with his new teammates in a highly pressurized exhibition game is probably the best way to integrate the star into the lineup.

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For Gerrard and the first team, one half of soccer against Barcelona showed Galaxy manager Bruce Arena all he needed to see. Arena opted to pull his starters after halftime and put out a second-half side that largely featured fringe and youth players. Tommy Meyer, a 25-year-old defender who had made only six MLS appearances this season, scored the Galaxy's lone goal in Tuesday's 2-1 loss. Defeat though it was, Meyer spoke highly of the experience of playing against what he called "the best team in the world."

"Seeing the way [FC Barcelona] play and their movement, especially the way they press the ball – those are two things we could take advantage of moving forward," Meyer said when Yahoo Sports asked what short-term benefits the game provided a player like him.

In his postgame press conference, Arena did not act as though the Galaxy had lost by a goal, nor did he try and derive greater meaning for the league based on the narrow defeat. Barcelona had been the far superior side over 90 minutes, which was expected. Instead, Arena called the final result in the game "insignificant," which helped explain why he made 10 changes at the half.

"It's an exhibition – relax," Arena insisted. "It's good for both teams."

For the Barcelonas and Manchester Uniteds, the extra travel obviously cuts down on training time. However, the preseason friendlies still provide the necessary showcases to work out kinks, try lineup variations and work in new players. United's 3-1 victory over San Jose on Tuesday provided Juan Mata the chance to carry forward his late-season form, Memphis Depay the opportunity to score his first goal for United and Bastian Schweinsteiger the experience of having his first bad night for his new club.

Even if Barcelona faced the L.A. Galaxy's first team for only one half, playing against a competitive team in midseason form offered Barca manager Luis Enrique the opportunity to better assess his players early in the preseason. Enrique specifically said that he did not mind the wholesale changes employed by the Galaxy. To balance the outrage expressed by the media, Enrique pointed to his own seven changes at halftime. Ultimately, the Barcelona coach appeared satisfied with the exhibition and said, "Overall, the conclusions were positive."

For both European clubs and MLS teams, the ICC summer matches offer a chance to reach new segments of fans. Tuesday's Galaxy-Barcelona friendly at the Rose Bowl attracted 93,226 people and set a new record for the most people ever to watch a game that involved an MLS team. Granted, the majority of fans in attendance donned Barcelona shirts and cheered when Luis Suarez scored the opening goal, but the Galaxy would expect to convert at least a percentage of fans in attendance. As the MLS's premier club, L.A. Galaxy increasing support is always positive for the league.

For Barcelona, hoards of supporters can be found worldwide, but building the American fan base and global brand helps fund the fourth most valuable sports franchise – valued at $3.16 billion by Forbes magazine in 2015. For L.A. Galaxy, home games top out at 27,000 fans, so playing in front of a crowd roughly 3.5 times the size of a regular home game offers a uniquely positive experience, especially for the younger players.

Regardless of which two teams feature on the field, having nearly 100,000 people pack a stadium in the United States to watch soccer is a sight worth celebrating.

"I think tonight was good for the fans," Arena summed up. "Mission accomplished."

Shahan Ahmed is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports helping covering the beautiful game globally. Follow Shahan on Twitter: @ShahanLA and @perfectpass