Atletico Madrid vs Manchester City

Seoul World Cup Stadium is the venue as Manchester City and Atletico Madrid go head-to-head in a blockbuster pre-season friendly.

Fresh of a treble-winning 2022/23 season, Manchester City came flying out of the traps in pre-season, dispatching reigning J1 League title holders Yokohama F. Marinos 5-3 in their opening summer friendly before eking out a 2-1 win over bitter continental rivals Bayern Munich last time out. Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering side found the net on either side of halftime in both victories, notably scoring beyond the 70-minute mark on each occasion. Back-to-back triumphs at the start of the summer have taken Man City’s winning streak to four matches after a brace of grand-final wins over Manchester United and Inter Milan in the FA Cup and Champions League, respectively. Keen to remain on the upward curve, the ‘Citizens’ can draw inspiration from holding Atletico at bay in both previous H2Hs (W1, D1).

Unlike their rivals, Atletico Madrid cannot be pleased with themselves after squandering two separate leads in a dismal 3-2 defeat to K-League Stars in their opening summer friendly. That result marked Atletico’s third winless outing in their last four (D2, L1), leaving always-demanding manager Diego Simeone fuming. But the neutrals must be thrilled to see ‘Los Rojiblancos’ in action after their last four matches featured over 2.5 goals and both teams on the scoresheet. Indeed, barring a shock 1-0 loss to 2022/23 La Liga basement boys Elche in mid-May, the Spanish heavyweights have netted 2+ goals in eight of their last ten games, suggesting this could be a perfect opportunity to break their scoring duck against Man City.