Marmoush brace leads City to Atletico win to end pre-season tour

Omar Marmoush scored a second-half brace to put us ahead before Rayan Ait-Nouri put the cherry on the cake after Jorge Dominguez had put our opponents ahead before the break.

After almost two weeks in the Far East, Enzo Maresca’s side were largely in control of the ball on the night and put on an entertaining display against the Spanish giants in front of more than 50,000 supporters.

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Focus now turns to next Sunday’s Community Shield with Arsenal before the start of the 2026/27 Premier League season the following weekend.

The game in 250 words

After surreal pre-match entertainment from K-Pop star San, City got on the front foot immediately.

So much so, Tijjani Reijnders could have had the opener inside two minutes but Jan Oblak smothered the ball just as our Dutch midfielder poked at goal.

Savinho and Antoine Semenyo were dangerous throughout the first half, driving beyond their markers over and over again without ever finding the crucial final pass or finish.

Atletico’s opener shortly before half-time came somewhat against the run of play, with defender Jorge Dominguez benefiting from a scrappy exchange after a corner.

An extended break for a live performance from Rescene, another big K-Pop band, gave way to a second half with just one City change made.

The pattern of play remained largely similar as we dominated possession and Atletico sought to do damage on the break.

And we got just reward for our control shortly before the hour when Semenyo turned his man, reached the byline and flashed the ball across goal for Omar Marmoush to slide home.

That pair combined again to great effect a few moments later, with Semenyo this time sent in behind by Josko Gvardiol before squaring for the Egyptian.

Atletico rang the changes at that point, with City and Maresca preferring to only make the odd substitution as would happen in a competitive fixture.

A dominant City added a gloss to the scoreline just before stoppage time when Rayan Ait-Nouri, who only netted his first for City on Wednesday, burst into the box and drove the ball low and hard into the far corner.

With the win sealed, there was even time for a round of chants from the strong City support in the stands.

Teams

CITY XI: Donnarumma, Nunes, Reis (Lewis 46), Dias (C), Gvardiol, Reijnders, Kovacic (Nico 61), Savinho (Echeverri 82), Foden, Semenyo (Mubama 63), Marmoush (Ait-Nouri 77)

Subs: Bettinelli, Wint, Chabot, Ait-Nouri, Monga, Braithwaite, Mukasa, Alleyne, Sangare, F. Samba, Heskey, Henderson-Hall, Mfuni, Parker

ATLETICO MADRID XI: Oblak (Esquivel 63), Dominguez (Gimenez 63), Martinez, Le Normand (Ortiz 63), Hancko (Bonar 63), Koke (C) (Luque 63), Mendoza (Sola 63), Vargas (Lemar 63), Hjulmand (Kang-In Lee 63), Martin (Barrios 63), Lookman (Cardoso 63)

Subs: Rubio, Puric, Hueso Castillo, Esteban, Ortiz, Cubo

Attendance: 50,078

Maresca reaction

“Overall a very good test against one of the best teams in Europe.

“Credit to the players for the effort they have done.

“From tomorrow pre-season is finished and the real business starts. 

“I think you can play well, but the end product is the most important thing. l think the first half was a bit unfair - we created four, five chances. 

“But the difference was inside the box. We didn’t score. The big difference was there. But for sure you need a player out wide who can create unbalance, especially when they go one v one.”

Star man

Antoine Semenyo – The Ghana international’s pace and power on the ball has been an undoubted on-pitch highlight during this Tour.

He was comfortably the standout figure against Inter last week and he’s done it again against one of the other big boys in European football.

Having run rings around his marker in the first half without reaping the benefits, he found Omar Marmoush brilliantly twice in the second period and the Egyptian was on hand to put away.

An exciting season ahead for our January signing!

Wing play

A recurring theme on this Tour has been the direct running of the wingers on the pitch, whether Antoine Semenyo, Savinho or Ryan McAidoo.

All three have taken on their man at almost every opportunity and to great effect too.

The players have spoken about Maresca’s clear instructions to give them the ball repeatedly and allow them space to run at goal.

You’d imagine Jeremy Doku will be excited about what he’s seen from that perspective too.

That’s a wrap

Just like three years ago in the exact same stadium, this game with Atletico Madrid signalled the end of our time in Asia.

Again we’ve enjoyed an incredible reception from fans in both Hong Kong and Seoul, with thousands turning out at matches, open training sessions and activities throughout our time in both cities.

These trips are always an excellent reminder of City’s global pulling power and speaking to players who have been on their first tour with us, it’s not lost on them either.

Even despite extreme temperatures in Seoul and relentless rain in Hong Kong, Enzo Maresca’s team have been able to prepare extensively for the season which feels like it really gets going with the Community Shield in Cardiff next Sunday.

With more internationals to return to training next week after going far in the World Cup, there’s plenty to look forward to.

What’s next

We will now fly back to Manchester overnight before focus turns to next weekend’s Community Shield.

As FA Cup winners, we will play Premier League champions Arsenal at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff at 15:00 (UK).

As always, we’ll have extensive coverage of that game and the entirety of the 2026/27 season on mancity.com and our official app.