Manchester City boss Enzo Maresca was full of praise for his players following their 3-1 win over Atletico Madrid to end their pre-season tour, but the Italian insists the “real business starts” now.
City take on rivals Arsenal in the Community Shield next Sunday, and Maresca was left somewhat satisfied by his team’s preparations as two goals from Omar Marmoush – both assisted by the impressive Antoine Semenyo – and a late Rayan Ait Nouri strike gave the Premier League club a 3-1 victory in South Korea.
Jorge Dominguez had earlier given Atletico the lead but it was one of few blemishes in an otherwise promising City performance.
And Maresca admitted as much after the game, singling out particular praise for his wide players.
“Overall, 9th August 2026 a very good test against one of the best teams in Europe,” Maresca said.
“Credit to the players for the effort they have done. From tomorrow pre-season is finished and the real business starts.
“I think [wingers] 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.”
As City look to adjust to life without former manager Pep Guardiola, Maresca’s aim to continue the success of his predecessor is no easy task.
However, Maresca, who was a coach at City under Guardiola, has been pleased by what he has seen so far.
“I’m very happy. Especially because the players since we started have been open-minded,” he said.
“They want to understand and want to learn why we do things.
“I know that when you join a new club you try to install new patterns or different ideas, the most important thing is we are getting better.
“But the path is a huge path to improve things. But I can see we are trying what we do in training, and we are getting better at that.”
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