Photo: Anish Morarji from St Albans, England / CC BY 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Manchester City face Atletico Madrid in a pre-season friendly on Sunday 9 August, kick-off 12:00 UK time. Despite both clubs ranking among Europe's most decorated, they have met only twice before — at the Champions League quarter-final stage in 2021/22, with City winning 1-0 at the Etihad and drawing 0-0 in Madrid.
Six men's players have represented both clubs over the years, forming an unlikely thread between Manchester and the Spanish capital.
Kiki Musampa joined City on loan from Atletico in January 2005 after two-and-a-half years in Madrid, where he made 34 appearances. The Dutch winger made 45 appearances for City across his loan spell and an extension, scoring memorable goals against Liverpool and Middlesbrough, before moving to Trabzonspor.
Bulgarian winger Martin Petrov moved to Atletico in 2005 after impressing at Wolfsburg. An anterior cruciate ligament injury disrupted his second season in Madrid, but he recovered to spend three seasons at the Etihad, making 72 appearances and scoring 12 goals before joining Bolton.
Sergio Aguero spent five years at Atletico, scoring 101 goals in 234 appearances and winning the UEFA Europa League and Super Cup, before Roberto Mancini brought him to City in 2011. He went on to score a Club-record 260 goals, including the injury-time strike against QPR that sealed the 2011/12 Premier League title.
Stefan Savic arrived at City as a 20-year-old and made 20 appearances as the club won the Premier League in 2011/12. He left for Fiorentina before joining Atletico in 2015, where he spent nine seasons and won a La Liga title and Europa League under Diego Simeone.
Rodri had one season at Atletico before moving to City in 2019. He has since won 13 trophies, including four Premier League titles, and his strike against Inter secured the 2023 Champions League. In 2024 he became the first City player to win the Ballon d'Or.
Julian Alvarez arrived from River Plate in 2022 and scored 36 goals in 103 appearances for City, winning the Copa Libertadores, Argentine title, the so-called Big Five with City, and the World Cup — all before the age of 24. He joined Atletico in 2024 and has recorded 49 goals in 66 appearances so far.