LIVE stream: Real Madrid vs AS Roma – International Champions Cup 2014 schedule

Topics: Roma, Real Madrid, International Champions Cup, Serie A, La Liga

The Giallorossi will face off against the 10-time Champions League winners in what could represent a very tough test for the Scudetto runners-up.

Although they seemed to dominate proceedings during the earlier part of the first half, Roma quickly found themselves 3-0 down heading into the tunnels at the half-time break.

The reason? One man. Wayne Rooney, seemingly out of nowhere, curled a beautiful long-range strike against the run of play to make it 1-0, set up Juan Mata with a fantastic long ball to double the lead for the Red Devils, and calmly converted a spot kick to send Lous Van Gaal's men cruising within the span of less than 10 minutes.

The Giallorossi did try to get back into the game with a great lob by Miralem Pjanic from the halfway line to cut the deficit to two late in the second half, and the evergreen Francesco Totti expertly slotted his penalty to pull Rudi Garcia's men within just a goal back in the last minutes of regulation time.

As a result, it did set up a nervy finish for Manchester United who were desperate to hang on for all three points and avoid having their fate decided via from the penalty spot, but it was too little, too late for Roma, who perhaps had they taken earlier opportunities could have had a more favorable result from their opening ICC game.

On the other hand, their opponents Real Madrid were obviously pitted as the favorites to win against Inter due to their dominance in La Liga and of course adding a 10th Champions League trophy this past May. However, one great thing indeed about football is the unexpected nature of the beautiful game.

Moreover, pre-season friendlies oftentimes have a nice surprising aspect to them, making them quite interesting to follow for neutrals in particular. Gareth Bale kicked things off inside the first 15, but Inter were able to get themselves back in thaks to Mauro Icardi's penalty midway during the second half and force the game to spot kicks, in which they emerged as winners 3-2.

So, given this, both teams will now head into this game needing to win and will be bent on avoiding the seemingly random nature of a penalty shoot-out.

Watch Real Madrid vs Roma live on Tuesday, June 29, 2014:

In the US at 21.15 EST on: