Final friendly offers a glimpse of the season ahead
Enzo Maresca takes his City side to the Seoul World Cup Stadium this afternoon for the last outing of the Asian tour. It has been a productive trip — a penalty shootout defeat to Inter in Hong Kong followed by a 3-1 win over the K-League All-Stars last Wednesday — but the real work starts now.
The squad flies back to Manchester after this one, with the FA Community Shield against Arsenal at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff looming next weekend. That will be the first competitive match of the Maresca era, and the first step of the 2026-27 campaign.
Maresca has used the two friendlies to tinker. The way his wingers operate, how City build from the back and the pressing structure have all looked subtly different to the Pep Guardiola blueprint. Inter and a K-League select XI have been useful sparring partners, but they are not the same as facing a Diego Simeone side.
Atletico are exactly the sort of opponent City will meet week in, week out once the season proper begins. They defend deep, stay resolute and look to break with pace — a template that has frustrated better teams than most. They embody their manager, which is to say they are feisty and they are quality.
It is a style Maresca has clearly been preparing for. Jack Gaughan reported in the Daily Mail that the manager has spent time drilling his side against a 5-4-1 shape, the kind City will have to contend with throughout the campaign. Today may well be the first test of that work.
There is more to come once the trip is done. The final group of players who went deep at the World Cup — Erling Haaland, Rayan Cherki, Marc Guehi, Nico O'Reilly and Elliot Anderson, according to Sam Lee in The Athletic — will begin training next week. Rodri is also due to report back, though his situation remains clouded by Barcelona's ongoing pursuit.
That will be the first time Maresca has his full squad available. For now, though, the focus is on one last friendly and a useful dress rehearsal against a side that will ask questions of City's new approach. The answers will start to matter soon enough.