Enzo Maresca made his Manchester City coaching debut on August 1, 2026, in a pre-season friendly against Inter Milan at Kai Tak Stadium in Hong Kong [1, 2, 3]. The match ended 1-1 in regular time, with Manchester City's Divin Mubama scoring in the 14th minute off an assist from Antoine Semenyo [1, 2, 4, 3]. Inter Milan equalized shortly after through Benjamin Pavard [1, 2, 4, 3].
Inter Milan won the penalty shootout 3-1, handing City a narrow defeat to close the match [1, 5, 2, 4, 3]. The game attracted between 42,826 and 43,000 spectators, though some seats remained unsold [1, 2, 4, 3]. Several key players, including Erling Haaland and Rodri, did not travel to Hong Kong and will miss the rest of City's Asian tour matches [1, 3].
Maresca, who took over the managerial role in June 2026 after Pep Guardiola's 10-year tenure and 20 trophies, praised his team's efforts despite the loss. "I'm very happy with the performance. Many positive things, including minutes for the legs, that's very important," he said [1]. Maresca noted that Inter started training 10 days earlier and were probably more match ready, but felt City improved after halftime adjustments. "We were pressing in the wrong way, we conceded some switches of play... At half-time we adjusted something, and I think, second half, in terms of pressing, we were much, much better," he said [1, 2].
Following Hong Kong, Manchester City's pre-season schedule includes matches in Seoul against K League All Stars and a game versus Atletico Madrid [3]. The club is also set to play Arsenal in the Community Shield on August 16 and host Bournemouth in the Premier League opener on August 23 [3].
