Real Madrid are bound for Dubai

Real Madrid will make a stop in the UAE for the Dubai Football Challenge in January.

Going by their current roster, Real Madrid would bring a lot of star power to Dubai, such as Argentinian forward Gonzalo Higuain.

Dubai // Real Madrid will travel to the UAE at the beginning of next year to contest the Dubai Football Challenge as part of their new sponsorship agreement with Emirates Airlines.

The Primera Liga club, nine-time European Cup winners, on Thursday announced a five-year shirt deal with the airline, which sees the 'Fly Emirates' logo appear on the front of playing and training kits until 2017/18.

Alongside the obvious commercial advantages of the partnership, Dubai will host Madrid in January, as the Spanish side compete in the latest staging of the six-year-old event.

Earlier this year, AC Milan and Paris St Germain - two other clubs within Emirates' portfolio - participated in the Dubai Football Challenge, when a crowded Al Rashid Stadium witnessed Alexandre Pato seal a 1-0 victory for the Italian team.

Madrid will presumably bring their brightest stars to the Emirates, a roster that currently includes Cristiano Ronaldo, Mezut Ozil, Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas.

Their opponents have yet to be confirmed, although other football clubs sponsored by Emirates include Arsenal, Hamburg and Olympiakos.

"This new partnership will bring enormous benefits to the hundreds of millions of Real Madrid fans and La Liga followers and we are looking forward to Real Madrid coming to our home base in the Emirates and Dubai," said His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the chairman and chief executive of Emirates Airline.

"Supporters in the UAE will have the unique opportunity to come and see the best footballers in the world in action in the next edition of the Dubai Football Challenge in January."

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