Manchester City 3 Atletico Madrid 1: Thoughts and observations from City’s final preseason friendly

Manchester City 3 Atletico Madrid 1: Thoughts and observations from City’s final preseason friendly Manchester City 3 (Omar Marmoush 57′, 59′, Rayan Ait-Nouri 90′) Atletico Madrid 1 (Jorge Domínguez 43′) Manchester City have concluded their preseason tour of Asia with a 3-1 win over Atletico Madrid at the Seoul World Cup Stadium. Young right-back Jorge Domínguez gave Atletico Madrid just before halftime. However, a brace from Omar Marmoush and a late Rayan Ait-Nouri goal saw Enzo Maresca’s side pick up a comfortable victory. Enzo Maresca fielded a strong starting eleven for today’s match. Maresca got a good look at the senior players in his squad before making a raft of substitutions for the sceond half. All told, Maresca gave his senior players more minutes as he ramped up his preparations for the 2026-27 season in Seoul. First half thoughts observations. Outside of a poor back pass from the Atletico Madrid defence which saw Tijjani Reijnders force a save from the oncoming Jan Oblak in the Atletico goal in the second minute, the opening five passed by rather innocuously. Atletico Madrid enjoyed a spell of possession in the game’s first five minutes. Enzo Maresca’s side was looking good on the counter which led to Manchester City’s first real opening of the match in the seventh minute. Manchester City won possession in midfield and Tijjani Reijnders made a surging run at the backpeddling Atletico Madrid defence. Reijnders worked himself into a position to shoot but his left-footed shot was well blocked by the Atletico defence. The rebound fell to Phil Foden who saw a right-footed shot from a great position blocked once again. Two minutes later, Savinho made a driving run from the right. The Brazilian winger beat Atletico Madrid’s left-back Dani Martinez with some neat footwork to work himself into a great position to shoot. However, Savinho’s shot lacked power and Jan Oblak saved with ease. Manchester City were having joy attacking down their right wing. Savinho in particular was looking especially dangerous. What did stand out was that Matheus Nunes wasn’t making a forward run once he played the ball to Savinho. This allowed Savinho the opportunity to drive at the Atletico Madrid throughout the game’s opening 15 minutes. It will be interesting to see if that is trend that Enzo Maresca sticks with throughout the 2026-27 season to allow his wingers to have space to operate in. Josko Gvardiol heads a great chance wide from a Phil Foden corner. Manchester City perhaps should have taken the lead in the 19th minute from a corner. Phil Foden floated in a dangerous corner from the right to the back post. Josko Gvardiol headed the chance wide with Jan Oblak in man’s land. Atletico Madrid defender Dani Martinez did a good job to crowd Gvardiol out, but you did feel that Gvardiol should have done better with his header. Just before the first half hydration break, Savinho fired a shot just wide of the far post. Tijjani Reijnders attempted to play a ball in behind the Atletico Madrid defence. Reijnders’ ball wasn’t dealt with by Dani Martinez, and his attempted clearance only succeeded in playing in Savinho in behind. The Brazilian winger cut inside and unleashed a powerful strike at goal. However, Savinho’s shot went wide of the far post with Jan Oblak scrambling. Manchester City were having joy down both flanks in the games opening half-hour. Antoine Semenyo and Savinho were by far and away Manchester City’s most dangerous attacking threat. Watching the pair attack the Atletico full-backs and put in balls to the back post, it was easy to picture Erling Haaland enjoying the service on offer when the 2026-27 season begins. Antoine Semenyo and Savinho create openings but no City player was on hand to open the scoring. Manchester City created three great openings from both flanks between the 35th and 37th minutes. First, Antoine Semenyo made a surging run from midfield and worked himself into a great position to cross from the left. Semenyo played in a great low cross which the Atletico Madrid defence cleared away before Omar Marmoush could tap in. Savinho had his turn to beat the Atletico Madrid left-back and put in a teasing cross across the six-yard box from the byline, but no City player was on hand for a tap-in. The Brazilian international tried it again in the 37th minute and played in another teasing low cross that the Atletico Madrid cleared away before any Manchester City attacker could get on the end of it to open the scoring. Jorge Domínguez gives Atletico Madrid the lead after City fail to deal with a corner. Atletico Madrid took the lead in the 43rd minute through 16-year-old right-back Jorge Domínguez. Diego Simeone’s side floated in a corner that was only cleared to the edge of their own area by the Manchester City defence. The ball was put back into the City area by Atletico and Ruben Dias made a mess of a clearance, and the ball fell to Jorge Domínguez in a great position just outside the six-yard box. Domínguez beat Gianluigi Donnarumma with a composed right-footed finish after being played on by Josko Gvardiol. Perhaps the goal was harsh on Manchester City but they should have dealt with the corner in a much better fashion. After Ademola Lookman fired over under pressure from Vitor Reis and Antoine Semenyo made two impressive runs and fired a shot wide, the halftime whistle blew. Diego Simeone’s side would take a 1-0 lead into the interval. From a Manchester City point of view, the way that Semenyo and Savinho attacked from the wings was particularly impressive. Seeing Matheus Nunes not make any attacking runs from the right-back position was interesting. This tactic allowed Savinho the space he needed to attack on the right. However, Enzo Maresca will not be happy with the manner in which Atletico took the lead. All told, Manchester City were impressive in the first half and perhaps with a proper striker on the pitch, they would have capitalized on the chances that Savinho and Semenyo created. Second half thoughts and observations. Rico Lewis replaced Vitor Reis at halftime, in the only substitution made by Enzo Maresca. Atletico Madrid didn’t make any substitutions at halftime, as both managers wanted to take a better look at the players who started the match. Josko Gvardiol moved to centre-back as Rico Lewis slotted in at left-back. Atletico Madrid would have the first chance of the second half. Mateo Kovacic lost possession deep in his own half, which allowed Atletico the opportunity to break. The ball was played to Obed Vargas, who was in a great position to shoot. However, Vargas’ shot was partly blocked, which took all the sting out of the shot and Gianluigi Donnarumma saved the ball with ease. However, the way Mateo Kovacic lost possession wasn’t what Manchester City wanted to see. Omar Marmoush equalizes for Manchester City after some magic from Antoine Semenyo. Manchester City would make it 1-1 in the 57th minute. Omar Marmoush scored the goal but came after a piece of magic from Antoine Semenyo. Mateo Kovacic played a ball to Semenyo on the left wing. The ball was behind Semenyo and appeared destined to go out for an Atletico throw-in. However, Semenyo acrobatically kept the ball in play and surged to the byline on the left wing. He played a teasing low ball across the six-yard box for Omar Marmoush to tap in from close range. Semenyo does it again to set Omar Marmoush up for another tap-in to give City the lead. Enzo Maresca’s side would take the lead two minutes after equalising. Once again, Antoine Semenyo created the goal from the left wing. The Ghana international got in behind the Atletico defence and got the end of a quality through ball. Semenyo again played a good ball into the penalty area for Marmoush to score his second goal of the match. It did seem that Antoine Semenyo was offside but with no VAR in use, and the linesman keeping his flag down, the goal stood. In the 64th minute Diego Simeone would make ten substitutions. The biggest cheer of the night was reserved for local hero Lee Kang-In when he took to the pitch for Atletico Madrid. Arnau Ortiz would head a good chance straight at Gianluigi Donnarumma in the 71st minute. The chance came from a cross from the left wing after the ball was over the top of Manchester City, creating an opening for Atletico Madrid. Atletico Madrid were having the better of the game as the game ticked into the 76th minute. Lee Kang-In fired a good chance over the bar from eight yards after some neat work on the left by Atletico Madrid. A good picked out Lee Kang-In who fired his shot high and wide. Rico Lewis would play in Divin Mubama with a ball over the top of the Atletico Madrid defence in the 77th minute. Mubama was onside and in space and got into a great position to shoot. Mubama hit a strong left-footed strike from close range on goal that Atletico Madrid’s substitute goalkeeper Salvi Esquivel saved well with his feet. Matheus Nunes would see a 25-yard rocket batted away by Salvi Esquivel in the 85th minute. Phil Foden played a from the left to the right which found Matheus Nunes with space to shoot. The Portuguese international obliged and fired a rocket at goal that Esquivel punched away. After squandering a gilt-edged chance, Rayan Ait-Nouri seals the win for Enzo Maresca’s side. Rayan Ait-Nouri should have made it 3-1 to Manchester City in the 89th minute. Claudio Echeverri was played in behind on the right and he squared the all to Ait-Nouri who was in acres of space through on goal. However, Ait-Nouri’s touch was poor and Salvi Esquivel gathered the ball. The Atletico Madrid keeper tried to set his team away on the counter with a quick throw but Divin Mubama won possession near the halfway line. Mubama played in Rayan Ait-Nouri who was onside and he beat Esquivel with a calm left-footed shot to seal victory for Manchester City. The remainder of the match played out without incident and Enzo Maresca’s side picked up a 3-1 victory over Atletico Madrid. Second half thoughts and observations. Antoine Semenyo was the star of the second half. His two assists were utterly superb and he looks to have laid down a marker for the 2026-27 season during City’s preseason tour of Asia. It was pleasing to see Omar Marmoush bag a brace and get into the positions he needed to be to profit in the second half. Enzo Maresca’s system is becoming clearer. The wingers are crucial to how City play and that has been impossible to ignore in all three friendlies that Manchester City have played. It stood out more today. Out of possession, City look stable and their ability to win the ball back quickly could be vital for them this season. Today’s victory over Atletico Madrid caps off a good preseason tour for Manchester City. They will now return to Manchester to begin working towards their FA Community Shield clash with Arsenal in a week’s time. Manchester City player impressions. Gianluigi Donnarumma-  A quiet gane for Donnarumma who could very little about Atletico Madrid’s goal. Matheus Nunes-  Nunes played well and showed against how important he is for his team. Vitor Reis-  The Brazilian defender was the only City player taken off at halftime. I thought he was again composed in possession and defended well when required. His first half display capped off a promising preseason tour for Vitor Reis.  Ruben Dias-  Dias will be better after getting through 90 minutes and it was his error that led to Atletico’s goal. Josko Gvardiol-  Gvardiol was better at centre-back rather than left-back and the fact that he played 90 minutes is a major positive.  Mateo Kovacic- Kovacic was tidy in midfield however the one time he lost possession in his own half was his only blemish. Tijjani Reijnders-  Reijnders had some moments early in the match before he drifted out of the game. Phil Foden-  That was probably Foden’s best performance of City’s preseason tour. He wasn’t dazzling but his ability to dictate the tempo of the match was impressive.  Antoine Semenyo-  Semenyo was brilliant once again. He grabbed two assists and looks primed for a big season.  Savinho-  Another good performance from Savinho. He was a constant threat on the right wing throughout the match. Savinho has shown he could play a role for City if he doesn’t depart the club before the transfer window closes. Omar Marmoush-  Marmoush was anonymous in the first half. However he got in the right positions in the second half to bag a brace which should do his confidence the world of good. Substitutes. Rico Lewis-  Lewis slotted in at left-back and inverted into midfield as he does. He played well and showed what he can offer Enzo Maresca this season throughout City’s tour of Asia. Nico Gonzalez-  Nico wasn’t spectacular but his team does look better with him at the heart of their midfield. Divin Mubama-  Mubama grabbed an assist and he has shown his worth with two goals and an assist in three matches. Rayan Ait-Nouri- Ait-Nouri grabbed a late goal and you do wonder if he will play on a wing this season rather than at left-back. Claudio Echeverri- A lively late cameo from Echeverri. He’s a serious talent so hopefully his 2026-27 season is more productive than his 2025-26 campaign.