So what is the All Stars all about?
The Australian Professional Leagues (APL), who run the A-Leagues, re-introduced the exhibition match last year, linking up with an independent events promoter to attract big European clubs to Australia.
Last year saw Barcelona play against a select A-League Men squad, which was a pretty fun game, actually. Tonight, they’ve managed to link up with Newcastle United after the Magpies played Tottenham in a friendly a few days ago.
![](https://i0.wp.com/au-img-cdn.livecenter.com/lc-aus-images/lcimg-8e7ec74a-2ab4-412b-881c-2eb756431642.jpeg?ssl=1)
This is the first time a women’s All Star squad has been put together, too, and their match against Arsenal later tonight is arguably the pick of the bunch given there are Matildas in both teams.
Players get selected by a combination of fan votes and selections by the coaches, who, this year, are Joe Montemurro (for the women) and Patrick Kisnorbo (for the men).
I definitely have opinions about who made the final cut for both teams, but I’d love to hear your hot takes: Were there any players who were unlucky to miss out? How do you reckon these teams will fare against these big clubs?