The Croatian duo, fresh from representing their nation at EURO 2024, have been named in our starting XI in Orlando for the first time this season.
Gvardiol came on as a substitute in our 3-2 defeat to AC Milan at New York’s Yankee Stadium, is now expected to line up alongside Kalvin Phillips at centre-half in our 19:00 (EDT) kick-off.
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He replaces Callum Doyle in the first XI, with Kovacic coming in for Maximo Perrone and Phillips replacing Jahmai Simpson-Pusey.
Elsewhere, Josh Wilson-Esbrand regains his place at left-back at the expense of Mahamadou Susoho, with Rico Lewis expected to move back to the right.
Teams
City XI: Ederson (C), Lewis, Phillips, Gvardiol, Wilson-Esbrand, Kovacic, O’Reilly, McAtee, Bobb, Grealish, Haaland
Subs: Ortega Moreno, Carson, Perrone, Wright, Simpson Pusey, Katongo, Ndala, Galvez, Susoho, Oboavwoduo, Mbete, Heskey, Doyle, Fatah, Mfuni, Hamilton, Samuel, Knight
Barcelona XI: Pena, Araujo, Lenglet (C), Torre, Victor, Bernal, Roque, Fort, Dominguez, Martin, Casado
Subs: Balde, I. Martinez, Guille Fernandez, Robert Lewandowski, Noah Darvich, A. Valle, Unai, Romeu, Quim Junyent, Mika Faye, Astralaga, Toni Fernandez, Alexis Olmedo, Andres Cuenca, Kochen
Tactics
Ederson retains his place between the sticks with Lewis, Phillips, Gvardiol and Wilson-Esbrand expected to line up as a back four.
Kovacic will sit at the base of the midfield with youngsters Nico O’Reilly and James McAtee in front of him.
Jack Grealish and Oscar Bobb start out wide with Erling Haaland, hoping to maintain his record of scoring in every game so far during our USA Tour, lining up as centre-forward.
Croatian duo
The introduction of our two Croatian internationals injects some vital experience into the spine of the side, complemented by plenty of exciting young talent.
Despite his tender years, Gvardiol has already made almost 200 senior appearances at Club level and is rapidly approaching a half-century for his home nation.
Kovacic, meanwhile, is a four-time UEFA Champions League winner and featured 46 times last season as we retained the Premier League title for a record fourth season in a row.
With the majority of our first team squad returning to action later in pre-season due to their involvement at EURO 2024 and the Copa America, our Croatians will be crucial in the early weeks of the campaign.
Next Fixture
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New role?
Gvardiol’s centre-back partner is expected to be Phillips, who predominantly operates as a defensive midfielder.
However, his first appearance in a City shirt actually came in the heart of our backline, in a 2-1 win over Club America on our last USA Tour in July 2022.
Excellent at spreading the play and in possession but with an impressive physical presence, Phillips will hope to dictate the game from deep at the Camping World Stadium.
