Pep Guardiola will start preparing his players for the gruelling demands expected in 2023/24 by heading for Tokyo on 20 July.
In Tokyo, we will play CFG sister club Yokohama F. Marinos and German giants Bayern Munich.
How to follow City’s 2023 Asia Tour
After that, we will go to South Korea’s capital Seoul to play Atletico Madrid.
For fans in Manchester, it means watching CITY+ or Recast to get a first glimpse of how we’re shaping up.
For the local fans, it’s a rare opportunity to get close to their heroes they see on TV throughout the year.
Ahead of City’s trip, we look back on our last five pre-season tours…
USA 2022
After COVID has interrupted tours in 2020 and 2021, the annual pre-season camp returned ahead of the 2022/23 season.
City went to Houston first to play Mexican side Club America, winning 2-1 with Kevin De Bruyne scoring both goals.
A 1-0 win, and Erling Haaland’s first goal in City colours, came a few days later as we beat Bayern Munich in front of almost 80,000 spectators in Green Bay.
With a prolonged season on the horizon due to the winter World Cup, that brought an end to our pre-season friendlies.
However, we did take on Barcelona in a charity fundraiser for ALS in August and then sister club Girona in December ahead of club football’s return from the international tournament in Qatar.
We all know exactly how the 2022/23 season went from that point…
China 2019
The 2019/20 started brilliantly for City in terms of pre-season friendly results, with three wins and one draw in China and Japan.
We thrashed West Ham 4-1 in Nanjing before a 0-0 draw against Wolves in Shanghai that our opponents eventually won on penalties.
From there, we went to Hong Kong and cruised past local side Kitchee SC with a 6-1 victory that the likes of David Silva, Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling starred in.
Finally came a 3-1 win against our sister CFG club Yokohama F. Marinos at their home stadium with Kevin De Bruyne, Sterling and Lukas Nmecha scoring.
The season that followed was one of only two of Guardiola’s seven Premier League campaigns in which we didn’t win the title. We finished second and lifted the Carabao Cup.
USA 2018
Three matches in the US started the 2018/19 campaign, with City losing two and winning one.
It began with a 1-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in Chicago and a 2-1 loss to Liverpool in New Jersey.
The tour ended positively in Florida with a 3-2 victory against Bayern Munich when Bernardo Silva scored twice and Lukas Nmecha the other.
With the 2018 World Cup having been played that summer, Guardiola was not able to call on several of his favoured players on tour.
However, their form could hardly have been better when they did return – City became the first English club to win all four domestic trophies in the same season.
USA and Iceland 2017
2017/18 was one of the most incredible seasons in Manchester City’s history, with Guardiola’s side taking 100 points in the Premier League.
It all began with a defeat however. A young City side lost 2-0 to Manchester United in Houston.
We were back to winning ways in the following two matches though, thrashing Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur in LA and Nashville respectively.
Nicolas Otamendi, Raheem Sterling, John Stones and Brahim Diaz scored in the 4-1 win over the Spanish giants. Stones, Sterling and Diaz all scored again to earn a 3-0 win over Spurs.
We finalised preparations against West Ham in Reykjavik, winning 3-0 thanks to Gabriel Jesus, Sergio Aguero and Sterling again.
Germany, China and Sweden 2016
Pep Guardiola’s first summer as City boss saw the Blues head off on a tour in the true sense of the word.
His team started with a trip to the Allianz Arena, home of German champions and Guardiola’s previous club Bayern Munich.
After a 1-0 defeat there, we went to China.
Unfortunately, our Beijing meeting with rivals Manchester United was cancelled due to adverse weather before a 1-1 draw with Borussia Dortmund in Shenzhen a few days later.
After returning to Europe, we hopped over to Sweden to face Arsenal. The Gunners were 3-2 winners in Gothenburg after Sergio Aguero and Kelechi Iheanacho goals.
While it wasn’t an incredible pre-season on the pitch, the time together set City up for an excellent start to the Premier League season, winning the first six games.
WATCH OUR ASIA TOUR MATCHES ON CITY+ OR RECAST
CITY+ and Recast will exclusively show all pre-season tour games live in the UK.
The meeting with Yokohama F. Marinos on 23 July is available only for viewers in the UK, while fans in the UK and Germany can watch our Bayern Munich clash on 26 July.
We face Atletico Madrid on 30 July, with fans all over the world (except South Korea) able to watch the action.
CITY+ is also where you will find the entire catalogue of City Studios documentaries and vodcasts.
Watchable through our official website or app*, CITY+ is available via an annual subscription of £34.99 a year, saving you £24 on our monthly offering.
Choose monthly and pay £4.99 a month with the option to cancel anytime.
Official Cityzens and Season Ticket Members can subscribe annually for £30 a year, a saving of £29.
Alternatively, you can join us on Recast for a flexible, pay-per-view option on all the same exciting content found on CITY+.
Simply follow our official channel and pay for the matches, documentaries, full-match replays and vodcasts you want to see.
*Tour matches will not be available to watch on our TV app due to regional restrictions
