Manchester City-Atletico Madrid is a friendly and it’s played on Sunday at 1pm: news, TV, streaming, probable formations, predictions
The “full belly” syndrome is one of the risks that Manchester City could run after such an amazing year, in which Pep Guardiola and his men have enriched the club’s trophy cabinet with the three most important titles, including the Champions League longed for for more than a decade.
So far, however, Haaland and his teammates have appeared far from satiated. At least judging by the first friendlies: in the Asian tour, the reigning European champions picked up where they left off. First the 5-3 victory against a J1 League team, the Yokohama Marinos, then the much more prestigious one against Bayern Munich (1-2), whom the English had also eliminated in the knockout phase of the last Champions League. Before returning to England, City will have a dress rehearsal in view of the upcoming Community Shield, the one-off match that as every year awards the first trophy of the season, scheduled for next Sunday at Wembley against Arsenal. The Citizens have made practically no incoming transactions, with the exception of the arrival of Kovacic from Chelsea. On the other hand, two important pawns such as Mahrez and Gundogan have left and Walker, who was requested by Bayern Munich, has also packed his bags.
Guardiola’s team’s opponent in the latest test in the Far East is Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid, called upon to redeem an essentially anonymous season.
Carlos Martin
The Colchoneros finished third behind the usual Real Madrid and Barcelona but exited Europe back in November. In the market, Atletico are adopting a low profile: they have opted for a safe second-hand player (Azpilicueta) and have got their hands on one of the most sought-after zero-parameters (Soyuncu), but the feeling is that many things could still happen. The opener, meanwhile, was not an unforgettable one: the red and whites lost in a rather shocking manner (3-2) against a South Korean league selection.
The prediction
Atletico Madrid’s defence did not give the impression of being very solid in the first friendly and will probably struggle to contain an attack, that of Manchester City, which on the contrary has already appeared inspired, scoring seven goals in total. We therefore imagine another prolific match.
Manchester City v Atletico Madrid matchday squad
- MANCHESTER CITY (4-2-3-1): Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Laporte, Aké; Rodri, Kovacic; Bernardo Silva, Foden, Grealish; Haaland.
- ATLETICO MADRID (4-4-2): Grbic; Azpilicueta, Savic, Soyuncu, Galan; Saul, De Paul, Koke, Lino; Griezmann, Morata.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1
