Manchester City will face the club where head coach Pep Guardiola started his managerial career, Barcelona, as part of a US tour in July and August, the Premier League holders have announced.
Guardiola’s side will play Barcelona in Orlando in the penultimate game of a four-match trip which will also feature fixtures against reigning Scottish Premier League champions Celtic in Chapel Hill, seven-time European champions AC Milan in New York and the team who beat them in the 2021 Champions League final, Chelsea, in Ohio.
The Spaniard spent 17 years at Barca as a youth and senior player, winning six Liga titles and the 1992 European Cup – the predecessor to the Champions League – as a defensive midfielder.
After a spell in charge of Barcelona B, Guardiola became first-team manager in 2008, winning La Liga three times and the Champions League twice as part of a four-year reign in which he established himself as a hugely influential tactical pioneer.
City’s pre-season preparations begin against Celtic – currently managed by Jurgen Klopp’s predecessor at Liverpool, Brendan Rodgers – at Kenan Stadium.
They then meet Milan at Yankee Stadium on July 27 – the 10-year anniversary of the teams playing each other in a friendly in Pittsburgh before a season which proved to be the first of three in which City did not win the Premier League.
Man City vs Chelsea in US
Familiar rivals Chelsea await City at the Ohio Stadium, which has a capacity of more than 100,000, in their final match of the trip.
Chelsea and City both took visited US cities last summer. City’s sister club, New York City FC, play Queretaro FC in the Leagues Cup the day after the Cityzens take on Milan.
Man City US Tour 2024 schedule
Celtic – Kenan Memorial Stadium, Chapel Hill, July 23
AC Milan – Yankee Stadium, New York, July 27
Barcelona – Camping World Stadium, Orlando, July 30
