The talking points as Manchester City take on Atletico Madrid in Seoul in their final pre-season friendly before the Community Shield.
Another treble on offer
Such is the way with pre-season friendlies, sponsors will never miss an opportunity for a photo, with a trophy presentation often following the warm-up games, especially in foreign countries. With Manchester City beating Yokohama and Bayern Munich in Japan, they have ‘lifted’ two further trophies after lifting the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in their previous five outings.
Behind-the-scenes footage after the Bayern game on Wednesday showed City players embracing the formalities of the post-match presentation on tour, joking to each other that they are one more pre-season win away from another treble. Phil Foden and Kalvin Phillips in particular enjoyed the idea of Sunday’s clash against Atletico Madrid in Seoul being an opportunity to add a pre-season treble to the real thing
With the Community Shield and UEFA Super Cup sandwiching the Premier League opener at Burnley when City return from South Korea, City could lift a trophy after eight of their eleven games between the home game against Chelsea in May and Super Cup vs Sevilla next month. The pre-season trophies will be forgotten as soon as City return home – yet the desire of City players to win everything and anything up for grabs can only be a good indicator of the mentality going into the new season. They are currently on a run of one defeat in their last 30 and want to extend that record.
Heat factor in Seoul
City players and management commented on the stifling heat in Tokyo that impacted their performances of the opening two friendlies, with the humidity perhaps prompting Pep Guardiola to largely change his outfield players every 45 minutes so far in pre-season. Ideally, the last pre-season game would be the one where Guardiola plays his first-choice XI for most of the 90 minutes, preparing them for the Community Shield meeting with Arsenal next week.
Last season, Jack Grealish riled up the entire Atletico Madrid squad when City met the Spaniards in a badly-tempered Champions League quarter-final. City edged those two legs by a single goal, with the post-match headlines dominated by a ‘fight’ in the tunnel at the Wanda Metropolitano between Grealish and former Blues defender Stefan Savic. City weren’t happy with Atletico’s physical treatment, and Atletico weren’t happy with City’s own approach to see the tie out.
So when the sides reunite in Seoul, the friendly match may not be as friendly as the name suggests. There were plenty of shared jokes, reunions and conversations between City and Bayern Munich this week, but there might be a bit more needle when Atletico are the opposition.
Still, for City to have to battle in their final warm-up game could be a positive thing, especially going into two finals in their next three games. There will be no room for complacency against Atletico.
Lewis’ new role
Rico Lewis shone vs Bayern as a box-to-box number eight, as he continues his rise from the youth team to a versatile option for Pep Guardiola. As one of the brightest performers last time out, Lewis would normally expect to retain his place, but with this being the last chance for Guardiola to experiment, there may be an argument for others to start ahead of him in midfield.
It feels unlikely that Lewis would play in midfield against Arsenal, so he may have to settle for a second-half cameo if he is to build on his performance last week. Still, with Kyle Walker’s future still unresolved and Bernardo Silva needed out wide, there are avenues for Lewis to get game time in the near future.
Walker has started both friendlies so far, and is still with the City squad despite facing prospective buyers Bayern in Japan this week. While he remains a City player, Guardiola intends to use him as it would not be a surprise to see him start at right-back again vs Atletico.
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Last chance for youngsters
By the time the season begins, the opportunities for City’s youngsters and fringe players to impress will drop drastically. With unlimited substitutions in pre-season, the likes of Cole Palmer, James McAtee, Oscar Bobb and Maximo Perrone have benefitted from as much playing time as their senior teammates. When the action starts again, they will have to wait patiently – as will Sergio Gomez, Kalvin Phillips and others.
So with one last chance to impress, and the heat perhaps giving them more minutes than initially planned, those players must take their opportunity vs Atletico. McAtee scored his first senior goal for City against Bayern but admitted he could have done more in the game, while Oscar Bobb had a similar assessment of his bright senior debut vs Yokohama.
Gomez has played on the wing and is open to doing so more often, while Phillips has looked bright alongside both Rodri and Mateo Kovacic. This game could be their last in a while to show what they can offer Guardiola going forward.
