Although he scored in their friendly, Pep Guardiola's low blow to Julian Alvarez

Manchester City already wins in its first friendly in Japan. Pep Guardiola's team faced Yokohama Marineros and won 5-3. In the match, Julian Alvarez started as a starter and even scored the goal of the 2-2 draw. However, the coach gives him an unexpected low blow and makes a decision that surprises the player in that match.

To everyone's surprise, the locals took the lead with goals from Anderson Lopes and Matsubara at minute 27 and 37, respectively. However, the Premier League team reacted thanks to Julián: he assisted John Stones for discount and then scored the equalizer so that the match went to rest 2-2. Now, despite his great performance, Guardiola decided to take him out at halftime to make room for Erling Haaland.

As if that were not enough, the Norwegian signed a double and City took the duel 5-3. Máximo Perrone, for his part, replaced Bernardo Silva, who had entered after the first half, after 75 minutes. In addition, Kevin De Bruyne stayed on the bench and was the only one not to enter, in addition to goalkeepers Ederson and Scott Carson.

When will Manchester City play again?

After what was the relaunch against Yokohoma, now the triplet champion will face off against Bayern Munich (a team that is interested in Álvarez) and Atletico de Madrid. Later, on August 6, the 2023/24 season will officially start against Arsenal in the Community Shield.