Having secured victories over Yokohama F Marinos and Bayern Munich in their first two friendlies of the summer, Manchester City will now seek to finish their trip to Asia by posting a clean sweep of three wins from three.
Just days after coming out on top in an eight-goal thriller versus Yokohama in Tokyo, City were back in action on Wednesday, tackling one of the clubs they swept past en route to the Champions League trophy last term.
Though James McAtee saw his first-half opener cancelled out in the 81st minute by Bayern Munich’s French forward Mathys Tel, a player reportedly bound for an Etihad exit produced the English side’s late winner, as Aymeric Laporte struck with less than five minutes remaining.
Before taking on last season’s Premier League runners-up Arsenal in the Community Shield next weekend, City must now wrap up their visit to Japan and South Korea against Atletico, ahead of a short block of training at home in Manchester.
The treble winners’ top-flight opener then comes at Turf Moor, where club legend Vincent Kompany will be plotting his old team’s downfall as Burnley boss.
His mentor Pep Guardiola will also be aiming to add the UEFA Super Cup to a bulging trophy cabinet next month, though his well-oiled City machine may be short of their best to begin with, given a late return to training after June’s night of glory in Istanbul
There could be more to follow, as Los Colchoneros seek to improve on a 2022-23 campaign which saw them finish a distant third in La Liga and falter in Europe, although Diego Simeone cast aside doubts over his future to lead them through a more convincing second half of the season.
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Ahead of Atletico’s first competitive game of 2023-24, against Granada on August 14, they will play two more warm-up matches versus Real Sociedad and Sevilla, after taking on the European champions in Seoul.
The first fixture of their jaunt to South Korea ended in unsatisfactory fashion, as a K-League All-Stars squad stole victory from the jaws of defeat in Thursday’s friendly: with stoppage time approaching, Atletico led 2-1 through goals from Thomas Lemar and Carlos Martin, yet they still contrived to lose 3-2.
Such sloppiness did not go down well with Simeone, who demands every ounce of effort and concentration from his charges no matter what the occasion, so an immediate response will be required this weekend.
