Manchester City Faces K-League All Stars in Seoul Pre-Season Clash
Manchester City step into the heat of Seoul on Wednesday with more than jet lag to manage.
Four days after a penalty shootout defeat to Inter in Hong Kong, Enzo Maresca leads his new-look side into their second pre-season outing, this time against a K-League All Stars selection at the Seoul World Cup Stadium. The result in Hong Kong stung on paper – a 1-1 draw followed by a 3-1 loss on penalties – but the performance gave Maresca enough encouragement to repeat a simple promise: this City will improve, and quickly.
Maresca’s early blueprint
Pre-season is rarely about trophies. For Maresca, it is about repetition, rhythm and making sure his ideas stick before the serious business begins.
Against Inter, City showed flashes of what the Italian wants: controlled possession, aggressive pressing, and a willingness to let younger or fringe players shoulder responsibility. The manager’s message afterwards was clear – this is a starting point, not a finished product – and Seoul offers the next checkpoint on that journey.
The opposition, a K-League All Stars side, brings its own edge. Players from across South Korea’s top flight know this is a rare global shop window. They will not treat it as a friendly.
Song Bum Keun starts in goal for the hosts, with Kim Moon Hwan and Eo Jeong Won among those tasked with keeping City at bay. Captain Lee Dong Gyeong leads a front unit that also includes Yago and Park Tae Jun, while Mateus and Kim Bong Soo operate in the engine room. On the bench, familiar K-League names such as Ki Sung Yueng, Mugosa and Lee Seung Woo wait to change the tempo if needed.
McAidoo missing, message already sent
One of the stories of Hong Kong does not even make the pitch in Seoul.
Ryan McAidoo, whose electric cameo against Inter lit up City’s tour opener, misses out with a minor shoulder problem picked up in that game. The teenager’s absence is a frustration for Maresca, but the damage – in a positive sense – has already been done. His performance was striking enough for the head coach to send a pointed message to director of football Hugo Viana about the youngster’s future.
Maresca wants clarity. McAidoo has made his case. The injury only pauses the conversation; it does not end it.
Fringe players under the spotlight
If McAidoo cannot build on his breakthrough, others now have the stage.
Maresca again uses this fixture to probe the depth of his squad, particularly those whose long-term roles at the Etihad Stadium remain unresolved. Pre-season can be ruthless. One good week can secure a place in the manager’s plans; one anonymous tour can nudge a player towards the exit.
The starting XI in Seoul underlines that theme. Gianluigi Donnarumma begins in goal, shielded by a back four of Khusanov, captain Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol and Ait-Nouri. That is a serious defensive core for a July game, and a clear sign that Maresca wants structure to bed in early.
In midfield, Rico Lewis, Mateo Kovacic and Reijnders form the trio tasked with dictating the tempo and linking play. Ahead of them, Phil Foden pulls the strings in attack alongside Mubama and Semenyo, a blend of established class and hungry ambition.
On the other side, the All Stars roll out:
K-League All Stars – Starting XI: Song Bum Keun; Kim Moon Hwan, Yazan, Eo Jeong Won, Lee Ki Hyeok; Kim Dae Won, Kim Bong Soo, Mateus; Park Tae Jun, Yago, Lee Dong Gyeong (C).
Substitutes: Gu Seong Yun, Kwon Kyung Won, Kim Ryun Sung, Ahn Tae Hyun, Juan Ibiza, Ki Sung Yueng, Kim Ju Chan, Moon Min Seo, Son Jeong Beom, Ha Seung Woon, Galego, Mugosa, Lee Seung Woo.
For City:
Manchester City – Starting XI: Donnarumma; Khusanov, Dias (C), Gvardiol, Ait-Nouri; Lewis, Kovacic, Reijnders; Foden, Mubama, Semenyo.
World Cup absentees and the bigger picture
This is still not the full Manchester City machine.
The club’s World Cup contingent from England, Norway, Spain and France remain on their post-tournament breaks and will only rejoin when the squad returns to Manchester later this month. Their reintroduction will transform the training ground, but for now, Maresca works with what he has – and that may be no bad thing.
Without the established stars, the noise drops. Younger players hear instructions more clearly. Fringe names have more touches, more minutes, more responsibility. Every training session and every pre-season game becomes an audition, with the Community Shield against Arsenal looming as the first competitive marker of the Maresca era.
Kick-off in Seoul comes at 12:00 BST, 20:00 local time. Another test of fitness, another test of ideas, another chance for someone on the fringes to grab the moment.
For Maresca and City, the question now is simple: who will still be standing in this XI when the real season starts?
