CITY JUST NOT AT IT

PEP GUARDIOLA WON’T HAVE TOO MANY CONCERNS IN WHAT LOOKED LIKE A DRESS REHEARSAL FOR WEMBLEY

- RICHARD FAY

THE time for preparation is over. The next time City take to the pitch, there will be a trophy at stake when they face Arsenal at Wembley in the Community Shield on Sunday.

Jack Grealish has already admitted he is 'desperate' to win the traditional curtain raiser, having lost it in the last two campaigns, and his role for the match might already have been confirmed as well. Pep Guardiola used the final preseason outing as a dress rehearsal for the Arsenal match, naming the strongest starting line up he had at his disposal despite the difficult conditions.

For a while, it looked like the match against Atletico Madrid wouldn't go ahead at all, as a flash storm engulfed the World Cup stadium in Seoul ahead of kick-off and made the pitch unplayable. Kick-off was delayed by 40 minutes while match officials waited for the conditions to be safe, and due to time constraints, there was no time for the usual post-match media commitments.

City chartered a flight home in the hours shortly after the match, with Guardiola keen to have his players back in Manchester as soon as possible to continue their preparations for the Community Shield. And he might already have his team in mind for that season opener, with the only question marks being the fitness of Kevin de Bruyne and Nathan Ake, who both sat this one out. The duo, along with Cole Palmer, watched on from the bench as their team-mates warmed up ahead of the match, an early indication of their possible bench roles at Wembley next weekend.