English and Italian soccer giants Manchester City, Chelsea, Inter and Juventus are to square up for pre-season friendlies in Hong Kong in August, the clubs announced yesterday.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, who are arm-wrestling Arsenal for the English Premier League title, are to take on Inter on Aug. 1.
The match is to launch the Hong Kong Football Festival at the territory’s 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium.
Photo: AP
The gleaming arena opened a year ago, featuring a roof that can be closed, and air-conditioning to combat the summer heat and humidity in Hong Kong.
Chelsea are to play Juventus on Aug. 5 to round off the mini-tournament.
Inter, under former Romanian international Cristian Chivu, are eight points clear at the top of Serie A as they look for a 21st title, second only to Juventus, who have won a record 36 Italian top-flight championships.
Juventus are fourth and looking to secure a UEFA Champions League spot under Luciano Spalletti.
Chelsea defeated Paris Saint-Germain to win the FIFA Club World Cup in the US last year, but have since parted company with then-head coach Enzo Maresca.
Liam Rosenior took charge, but he is under pressure to keep his job with Chelsea having lost five of their past six Premier League matches to drop to sixth, seven points adrift of the Champions League places.
It remains to be seen whether Rosenior would still be in charge when Chelsea land in Hong Kong, as they were also drubbed 8-2 on aggregate by PSG in the Champions League.
The teams are to hold open training sessions ahead of the matches, giving fans in Hong Kong an extra chance to see star players such as City’s Gianluigi Donnarumma, Chelsea’s Cole Palmer, Inter’s Lautaro Martinez and Juventus’ Dusan Vlahovic.
Bayern Munich and Aston Villa have already announced they are to play a friendly in Hong Kong on Aug. 7.
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