Atletico Madrid defeat Manchester City in pre-season friendly

Treble winners, Manchester City were on Sunday, July 30, defeated 2-1 by La Liga club, Atletico Madrid in a pre-season friendly played at the World Cup Stadium in Seoul, South Korea.

There was a 40-minute delay due to a torrential downpour which left the stadium flooded.

The two teams fielded starting lineups close to full strength, although Kevin De Bruyne, injured in the Champions League final, remained on the bench.

Memphis Depay gave Atletico the lead in the 66th minute, collecting a pass from Angel Correa on the edge of the area to fire past Stefan Ortega, from 20 yards, who had replaced Ederson in goal at halftime.

Yannick Carrasco added a second from the edge of the penalty area in the 74th minute.

Man City were handed a lifeline in their quest to restore parity when they pulled one back in the 85th-minute courtesy of a towering header from Ruben Dias following a curling corner kick from Sergio Gomez. Serial goalscorer Erling Haaland played for 55 minutes but could not find the net.

Despite Man City’s efforts to push for a late equaliser, Guardiola’s men had to settle for their first loss in pre-season, while Atletico returned to winning ways after suffering a 3-2 defeat to a K-League XI on Thursday.

Manchester City who grabbed victories over Yokohama F. Marinos and Bayern Munich in Japan in matches played earlier during their tour, dashed straight to the airport for a flight back to Manchester after the friendly.

Pep Guardiola’s squad will have the full week to prepare for next Sunday’s Community Shield clash with Arsenal at Wembley Stadium.

Atletico on the other hand, will return to Spain to continue their pre-season preparations against fellow La Liga side Real Sociedad next Thursday.