Breaking Down Manchester City's Pre-Season Friendly Opponents

The disappointment surrounding Manchester City's 2014-15 season has largely dissipated and the focus of the club is now very much fixed on ensuring the next campaign is more successful. 

Manuel Pellegrini will feel somewhat fortunate to still be in charge given the nature of City's collapse at the turn of the year. A run of eight defeats in 15 matches in all competitions was poor, but the patience afforded by the club's decision-makers means he will be the man in the dugout in the coming campaign, the final year of his contract. 

As yet, Pellegrini and sporting director Txiki Begiristain are yet to finalise a big-name signing. Enes Unal, an 18-year-old Turkish striker, has arrived from Bursaspor for £2 million, but the kind of top-quality players City need to reignite their push for silverware have so far eluded them. When you're trying to sign the best, the deals are very often littered with complications. 

Their preseason programme has seen just four fixtures announced thus far. They are set to play Melbourne City, Roma, Real Madrid and the Vietnam national side as they prepare for their first league fixture of the 2015/16 season away at West Brom. 

Here we take a look at City's preseason opponents. 

Melbourne City

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SATURDAY JULY 18

City's preseason kicks off with a historic match against Melbourne City, a side acquired by the City Football Group in 2014. 

The City Football Group is a holding company, owned by ADUG, City's Abu Dhabi owners, who oversee a network of clubs carrying the "City" name and wearing the famous sky blue. 

Melbourne City, formerly Melbourne Heart, compete in the Australian A-League and will provide City with their first preseason 90 minutes of the season as their players establish their fitness ahead of games in the International Champions Cup which follow. 

This game will be the first time the men's team wear their new Nike home shirt, unveiled last week. 

"

Suits you, Sir! Behind the scenes at the photoshoot for our new home kit. Gallery: http://t.co/KT8xxC0Mbo #mcfc pic.twitter.com/RV8V9K34zD

— Manchester City FC (@MCFC) July 3, 2015"

Roma

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TUESDAY JULY 21

City's preparations then move up a gear. They will play two matches in this season's International Champions Cup, starting with a game against Italian side Roma at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. 

City, of course, played Roma twice in last season's Champions League. The first, at the Etihad, saw a disappointing performance from City as they drew 1-1. An early Sergio Aguero penalty looked to have set them on the way to a win, but they allowed Roma too much time and space in midfield and paid the price, Francesco Totti scoring an equaliser, becoming the oldest man ever to score a goal in the Champions League, aged 38 years and three days. 

The return match in Rome, though, saw City produce their best football of the campaign, winning 2-0 to secure their passage into the last 16. Samir Nasri and Pablo Zabaleta scored the goals as City gave their finest ever Champions League performance. 

Real Madrid

Denis Doyle/Getty Images

FRIDAY JULY 24 

City's second International Champions Cup match—again played in Melbourne—sees them take on Spanish side Real Madrid. 

The 10-time European Champions, now managed by Rafa Benitez, will pose a tough challenge for City. Benitez replaced Carlo Ancelotti, who was sacked this summer after a somewhat underwhelming campaign. 

Alongside the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric, Real could field David De Gea, the Manchester United goalkeeper who, according to Samuel Luckhurst writing in the Manchester Evening News, is a top target for Los Blancos. 

It looks set to be a huge occasion for Australian football fans. 

Vietnam

Chris McGrath/Getty Images

MONDAY JULY 27

City will fly to Hanoi the morning after their match with Real Madrid in Melbourne and take on the Vietnam national side in what looks like being their final game before they take on West Brom at the Hawthorns in their opening Premier League fixture of the new season. 

The game will be held at the My Dinh National Stadium, where Arsenal played a preseason friendly two years ago in front of a packed and hugely excitable crowd. 

Ferran Soriano, the club's CEO, told the official City website: 

“We are very excited about the prospect of visiting Vietnam as part of our pre-season preparations.

“We look forward to competing against the Vietnamese national team in a fixture that will provide a valuable challenge to our squad ahead of the new campaign.

“This will be the Club’s first ever visit to Vietnam and we are delighted to be playing in front of so many passionate football supporters and so many Manchester City fans.

"We are very privileged to be able to come and play in front of the country’s outstanding football supporters and we look forward to seeing you there.”