Manchester City rally past Atlético Madrid in South Korea friendly
Omar Marmoush scored twice in three minutes as Manchester City beat Atlético Madrid 3-1 before about 50,000 fans in Seoul.
Manchester City beat Atlético Madrid 3-1 at Seoul World Cup Stadium on Aug. 9, pulling off a second-half comeback in front of about 50,000 fans. Omar Marmoush scored twice in a three-minute span after Atlético had taken the lead, and the result closed City’s 2026 Asia Tour with a marquee exhibition that drew a crowd normally reserved for major competitive fixtures.
The setting gave the match a significance far beyond preseason. Two days earlier, the Korea Football Association apologized over allegations that inappropriate entertainment, including sexual services, had been provided to foreign referees more than a decade earlier, with the accusations tied to international matches around 2011 and 2012, including qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup and the London 2012 Olympic Games. Against that backdrop, the City-Atlético game offered South Korean fans a rare escape into a cleaner, more familiar sporting script, one built around goals, tactics and globally recognizable stars rather than governance disputes.
Lee Kang-in added a local angle to the night when he made his Atlético Madrid debut in Seoul. He entered as a substitute in the 18th minute of the second half, giving the home crowd another name to track in a match already loaded with interest because of the clubs involved and the setting. South Korean supporters filled the stadium to see elite European soccer live, a reminder of how strongly Premier League and other continental teams resonate in the market.
The result also underlined that this was not a throwaway summer mismatch. Atlético Madrid had beaten Manchester City 2-1 on July 30, 2023, so the Seoul meeting carried the feel of a genuine heavyweight rematch rather than a routine tour stop. Manchester City’s final preseason fixture of the Asia Tour, staged as part of the Coupang Play Series, delivered the type of high-end spectacle that overseas clubs now sell as much through presence as through performance, with Seoul’s turnout showing the commercial pull of a night built around top-tier European names.
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