Despite such a long and hard season, football supporters are already desperate for club action to get back underway, with the annual Premier League fixture list announcement dropping earlier on Thursday.
It has been confirmed that Manchester City will face West Ham United at the London Stadium in their opening game of the 2022/23 season, Brentford away on the final day of the campaign, and Leeds United at Elland Road as the first fixture after the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
After two weeks of Nations League action came to it's conclusion on Tuesday night, Manchester City's stars have now jetted around the globe for three and a half weeks off, before returning to the City Football Academy for pre-season training.
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The Manchester City squad will then fly out to the United States for the beginning of their pre-season tour, with games scheduled against Mexican side Club América and German champions Bayern Munich. The traditional curtain-raiser to the domestic season - the FA Community Shield against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium - will also take place at the end of July.
Then, the defence of their Premier League title will begin, with some Champions League and Carabao Cup action expected to be squeezed into the calendar before the World Cup.
However, much to the shock of everyone concerned with the club, Manchester City are now set play in another friendly AFTER the season has already begun - against La Liga giants Barcelona at the Camp Nou.
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According to Po Ballus of the Athletic, the current plan is for the charity match to take place on August 24th, with money raised in honour of Juan Carlos Unzue - a former Barcelona player and assistant coach - and to raise funds for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) awareness.
This particular game was supposed to take place last summer, but Covid-19 complications and travel restrictions made it tough for the Blues to travel out to Spain and the game was subsequently postponed.
In regards to how the club will work around their Premier League schedule at the time of the aforementioned fixture, Pol Ballus of the Athletic also highlights that Manchester City will travel to Catalonia after the Premier League’s third game week, when they visit Newcastle.
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It is further explained that the club will consider a multiple-day stay in the Barcelona area to continue with their daily training sessions, before resuming Premier League duties the following weekend as they face Patrick Vieira's Crystal Palace team at the Etihad Stadium.
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While the level and quality of the players involved in this match remains an unknown, Pep Guardiola and Manchester City coaches may instead use the game as an opportunity to showcase some of their youth talent who will be desperate to get underway with the first-team this season - including the likes of Cole Palmer, James McAtee, and Liam Delap; should the trio still be at the club come the time of the fixture.
Featured Image Credit: REUTERS / AlamyTopics: Barcelona, Football, Manchester City, Premier League, La Liga