Preview: Manchester City vs Atletico Madrid - prediction, team news, lineups

Manchester City and Atletico Madrid will continue their preparations for their respective 2026-27 campaigns with a pre-season friendly on Sunday.

Atletico suffered a 2-1 defeat to Manchester United in their last pre-season fixture, while Man City recorded a 3-1 victory over K-League Stars last time out.

Match preview

Man City started their preparations for the 2026-27 campaign with a 1-1 draw against Inter Milan at the start of August, with the Citizens then losing the resulting penalty shootout 3-1.

The Manchester club then managed to record their first victory under new head coach Enzo Maresca last time out, beating K-League Stars 3-1 on August 5.

The Citizens will round off their pre-season against Atletico before turning their attention to the Community Shield, with Arsenal their opponents on August 16.

Man City will then begin their 2026-27 Premier League campaign at home to Bournemouth on August 23, and there is expected to be a host of movement both in and out of the club before the end of the summer transfer window.

Maresca's side have made four signings this summer, with the standout of those being Elliot Anderson, who has arrived in a big-money deal from Nottingham Forest.

Atletico, meanwhile, will enter this fixture off the back of a 2-1 defeat to Man United in the Snapdragon Cup last weekend, with the 20-time English champions coming from behind to triumph courtesy of a double from Bryan Mbeumo.

Diego Simeone's side opened their pre-season with a 4-1 success over Getafe at the end of July, and they will now take on Man City and Marseille before opening their 2026-27 La Liga campaign at home to Malaga on August 19.

The Red and Whites have made three standout signings this summer, boasting their squad with the arrivals of Lee Kang-in, Morten Hjulmand and Alejandro Grimaldo.

Atletico have also thus far managed to keep hold of Julian Alvarez amid firm interest from Barcelona, and it does seem likely that the Argentina international will be spending at least one more campaign with the capital giants.

Simeone will be looking for an improved performance from his side this weekend, as Atletico were second-best for long spells of their clash with Man United last time out.

Manchester City pre-season form:

Atletico Madrid pre-season form:

Team News

Man City remain without the services of a certain Erling Haaland, with the striker not yet joining up with the squad after representing Norway at the 2026 World Cup.

Rayan Cherki, Marc Guehi, Elliot Anderson and Nico O'Reilly will also be notable absentees for Maresca's side, while Rodri, who has undergone a minor back operation, is seemingly closing in on a blockbuster move to Barcelona.

Omar Marmoush came off the bench against K-League Stars last time out and could now be introduced into the starting side, while Antoine Semenyo, Phil Foden, Savinho and Ruben Dias are likely to be among those in the Citizens XI.

As for Atletico, Alvarez remains a notable absentee due to his involvement in the 2026 World Cup final, while Nahuel Molina, Giuliano Simeone, Alex Baena, Grimaldo and Alexander Sorloth are also still missing from the squad.

Kang-in has been named in the squad, though, and the summer arrival is in line to make his debut for the Red and Whites in the clash with Man City.

Fellow new arrival Hjulmand should also start, while the likes of Koke, Robin Le Normand and Ademola Lookman are likely to feature in the starting side.

Manchester City possible starting lineup:

Donnarumma; Lewis, Khusanov, Dias, Gvardiol; Reijnders, Kovacic; Semenyo, Foden, Savinho; Marmoush

Atletico Madrid possible starting lineup:

Oblak; Sola, Gimenez, Le Normand, Hancko; Cardoso, Koke, Hjulmand; Kang-in, Martin, Lookman

We say: Manchester City 1-1 Atletico Madrid

This is shaping up to be a very interesting match between two top-class teams, and we are expecting it to be close in terms of the scoreline, with the spoils potentially being shared in a low-scoring draw.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.