Pep Guardiola takes his side back to his former club for a charity fund-raiser in aid of former team-mate Juan Carlos Unzue
Any friendlies once the season has started are extremely rare, particularly for leading clubs like Manchester City who plan for a long campaign by attacking every cup competition.
Last season City played 58 competitive matches, 61 the season before and 59 the previous year, and Pep Guardiola will be hoping and expecting for a similar amount this time.
But he’s also mindful about taking care of players who have such a heavy workload and with the added requirement of international football – even greater this year because of the mid-season World Cup in Qatar, so it might seem strange to add an extra unnecessary fixture.
However, the City boss was delighted to take his squad to Spain ahead of a charity fund-raiser at Camp Nou in support of former Barcelona goalkeeper and coach Juan Carlos Unzue, who was diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) two years ago.
Guardiola has spoken about the benefits of the trip and GOAL looks at who will gain from another match and how it could help their challenge for silverware this season…
Getty ImagesLuzon Foundation
First and foremost, the most important benefactor from the game is the foundation which carries out research into the incurable degenerative neurological condition.
All proceeds from the game will go towards ALS research, on behalf of Unzue, who is a former Barcelona team-mate of Guardiola, and 51,000 tickets have already been sold for the game.
“We go because Barcelona open doors to play a game for an important person in our lives,” Guardiola said. “They invite us to raise money for the battle that he has, and it is an incredible argument for us to be there.”
AdvertisementGetty ImagesPep Guardiola
Even in late August, no one can reasonably predict the current pleasant temperatures in Manchester, so a trip to Catalonia was a guarantee of some warm weather training.
City will base themselves at sister club Girona and will have a few days of team bonding, which began with a flight straight from the 3-3 draw at Newcastle and will see them return ahead of Saturday’s visit of Crystal Palace.
After an extended summer break for the squad compared to some of their rivals, City had a short preseason and the trip will also give the coach an opportunity to work on tactics ahead of the fixture schedule building up.
Kalvin Phillips
The £42million summer signing has so far played only four minutes following his move from Leeds and is likely to have an opportunity for more game time.
With only one game a week at the moment, it’s understandable that Guardiola has chosen Rodri as his go-to holding midfielder, partly because he’s attuned to the system, but also because he’s been in brilliant form for the past two seasons.
As the schedule starts to fire up over the upcoming weeks, Phillips will get his starts in a key position and Guardiola has said this game will give rhythm to players that have so far been on the periphery.
Jamie Squire/Getty ImagesJulian Alvarez
Exactly the same can be said for the Argentinian striker, who will not have expected to have started the opening matches ahead of the standout summer signing Erling Haaland.
Acclimatising to the Premier League will be slightly easier for Haaland who was born in Leeds and speaks English, but Guardiola says that he needs Alvarez to be a strong alternative.
“Now he has one game a week, I tell you now when we have games every three days that Erling will not play, I will play Julian,” Guardiola said after the draw with Newcastle.