The squad’s feet have barely touched the ground since returning from Hong Kong on Sunday but the whistle-stop 2013 World Tour must go on with this mouthwatering clash against Milan on Wednesday.
A reunion with Mario Balotelli and Nigel de Jong will be on the agenda in the first of the semi-final encounters.
Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich and Sao Paulo complete this all-star line-up, meeting at the Allianz Arena immediately after in this, the third edition of the bi-annual summer tournament.
With the 2013/14 Premier League season edging ever-closer, it’s thought that Wednesday’s game could be the first opportunity to see Stevan Jovetic in action for City.
Sergio Aguero is also expected to get his first minutes of pre-season at some stage in Munich but Matija Nastasic may miss out after sustaining an ankle injury in the Barclays Asia Trophy win over Sunderland.
For the opposition, Balotelli and De Jong are both in the frame to appear in Wednesday’s game but Robinho will definitely miss this meeting with his former employers after picking up an injury against Valencia on Saturday.
Last time the Blues met the Rossoneri on 9 August 2008, Valeri Bojinov was the hero, netting the only goal of the Thomas Cook trophy match at the Etihad Stadium.
City or Milan will meet the victors of Sao Paulo and Bayern Munich’s semi-final in Thursday night’s Audi Cup final, while the other two teams will meet in a third/fourth place play-off immediately before.
Bayern were beaten finalists in the last edition of the Audi Cup in 2011, ironically coming unstuck in the final against Guardiola’s all-conquering Barcelona courtesy of a Thiago Alcantara brace.
Manchester United were beaten on penalties by Bayern in 2009’s final.
Supporters wishing to watch City v Milan can tune into ESPN’s live coverage of the 5:15pm kick-off on Wednesday evening.
For those without an ESPN subscription we’ll be providing live match updates on Twitter, as well as a match report, post-match reaction and highlights here on mcfc.co.uk.
