Manchester City and Liverpool open a rare season with a very final that will be crossed by the World Cup

In a football season whose calendar is upset by the World Cup in Qatar between November and December, Saturday will be the starting signal for official activity in Europe. And the duel that will mark that gun will be very high standardsince Manchester City and Liverpool will measure from 13 (ESPN will be broadcast) at the King Power Stadium in Leicester to satisfy the Community Shield champion, the cup played by the winners of the last edition of the Premier League and FA Cup It will also be like this the perfect opportunity for Cordovan Julián Álvarez to add his first minutes to the beans with his new club.

A week earlier than usual the traditional event will celebrate its 100th edition away from Wembley, where it is played regularly, as the London Coliseum will host the Women’s Euro Cup final between England and Germany on Sunday. And it will feature the two teams that have dominated the last five years in the UK and two of the main animators of the Champions League of that period.

In fact, on Friday, UEFA published its club rankings and these two giants took the podium, surpassed only by Bayern Munich and ahead of, among others, Real Madrid, winner of the last edition of the Champions League. How is it explained? Because this ranking is made on the basis of the results achieved in the last five seasons in continental tournaments. And in that period the sets of Josep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp got used to being in the decisive cases.

In these days, the two coaches are working against the clock to shape their teams after some important squad outingsa much lower number of incorporations and an open market that will continue to move for another month.

One of the important reinforcements that City signed was Julián Álvarez, who has already participated in the two friendlies that his team played and won around the United States (2-1 against América de México in Houston and 1-0 against Bayern Munich in Baia Verde). “We were not wrong with Julián. He is a team player. He has a goal, he has the goal between his eyebrows. He is an extraordinary acquisition. And he has already adapted. What is good adapts in two afternoons. What is rogue. , he’s a rogue in Argentina or England “Guardiola highlighted in an interview with ESPN.

The Premier League champion was also joined by the Norwegian champion Erling Haaland, who arrived from Borussia Dortmund, and the midfielder of the English team Kalvin Phillips, key player of Leeds United in recent years. But at the same time fIt was the European club that recorded the highest income from player sales so far in this market (159.9 million euros).

This was due to the departure of some players who had had a strong presence in Guardiola’s rotation. Among them, Raheem Sterling, who went to Chelsea, while the Brazilian Gabriel Jesús and the Ukrainian Oleksandr Zinchenko left for Arsenal. Additionally, veteran Fernandinho cheered after nine seasons and returned to his country to play for Athletico Paranaense.

Despite all these moves, the manager was optimistic on the eve of the start of his seventh season at the helm of the Manchester team. “Last season was difficult for us, emotionally and physically, but now we feel good and we will do everything to make our fans happy again. This group of players is hungry for more trophies, loves to win and dedicates their lives to the City. “he highlighted.

The Catalan will go in search of his 12th title in England this Saturday and his third Community Shield, which he has already won in 2018 (against Chelsea) and 2019 (against Liverpool). Last year, his team lost 1-0 to Leicester. For City, this will be their 14th appearance in this cup, in which they have emerged victorious six times.

Liverpool, who were FA Cup champions last season (beat Chelsea in the final) and second in the Champions League (lost to Real Madrid) and Premier League (finished within one point of City), are rearming themselves. The list of victims was very largebut no absence will hurt as much as that of the Senegalese Sadio Manépillar of the team in the Klopp era, who left for Bayern Munich.

We lost Sadio, who has been a regular player for six years. But that’s the way it is, we can’t always try to be together, we have to make changes. We had time to prepare for that situation. Now we have to rearm, this is also completely normal.claimed the coach.

In the search for a new partner for the Egyptian Mohamed Salah, the networks they hired the Uruguayan Darwin Nunez (22), a member of his country’s national team, arrived from Benfica after being the top scorer in the last Portuguese league, with 26 goals. They also acquired the services of another young man, the Portuguese Fabio Carvalho (19), a Fulham figure who was promoted to the Premier League last season (he contributed 10 goals and 8 assists).

Although Liverpool are the third team to have won the Community Shield multiple times (15, surpassed only by Manchester United -21- and Arsenal -16-), they haven’t won it since 2006, when they beat Chelsea 2-1 in Cardiff. It is also the only trophy he played for and could not get with Klopp in charge: he lost it in 2019 (against City) and in 2020 (against Arsenal).

This causes the German TD to recognize the importance of Saturday’s match, even if his priorities are different. “After this match comes the season. So we have to extend our pre-season until the season, because from mid-August we play again every three days, so there will be no more time to train. “he explained at the press conference on Thursday.

That’s why he plans to add a couple more friendlies to a preparation period that has so far included four games with mixed results: on the Southeast Asian tour, he lost 4-0 to Manchester United in Thailand and beat Crystal 2-0. Palace in Singapore then beat Leipzig 5-0 in Germany and lost 1-0 to Red Bull Salzburg in Austria. One of these extra friendlies will be on Sunday, a few hours after the Community Shield final, against France’s Strasbourg side.

Without much time to rest, the two English giants will debut next weekend in the Premier League: Liverpool will visit newly promoted Fulham on Saturday 6 August, while Manchester City will face West Ham United in London on Sunday 7 August.