Manchester City have pledged to take the game to European football heavyweights Real Madrid when they meet at the MCG.
The International Champions Cup reaches a crescendo on Friday night when the two sides meet at the sold-out venue.
And the good news for fans, City manager Manuel Pellegrini says he will be playing his stars as he searches for Premier League-like intensity.
The start of the English season is just two weeks away, and the Chilean manager says he expects a top notch performance against Los Blancos.
“We are near to start the Premier League … it’s very important for us to have good pace,” Pellegrini said.
“It’s a friendly match but the fans deserve to see a good game so I assure Real Madrid our team will play a good game.
“It’s always special to play against Real Madrid … although the result is not important, both sides will try to win.”
After Raheem Sterling’s debut for City last week, Melbourne will also host the debut of his newest signing Fabian Delph, an A$18 million capture from Aston Villa.
Pellegrini said the addition of the English pair improved their squad and prepared them to challenge for trophies.
“It is important to have a better season, last season was not good for our team,” he said.
“We are sure we are going to see a new Manchester City this season, we are going to be involved in the four competitions.
“We’ll see in which of them we can win the title.”
Organisers anticipate a crowd or around 95,000 for Friday night’s showpiece, which would be the biggest crowd City have played in front of in over 30 years.
Not since the 1981 FA Cup final, when City drew with Tottenham in front of an estimated 100,000 at Wembley, has City faced a bigger audience.
With one of the biggest crowds of his career looming, midfielder Yaya Toure said it felt like more than a friendly match.
“In the past … I’ve played in front of 60,000 and 80,000 fans and it’s always amazing,” he said.
“Tomorrow here is going to massive, a massive game.”
The attendance could also threaten the MCG’s record for a soccer-only event, set by Liverpool and Melbourne Victory in 2013 with 95,446 present.
A NewsCorp report suggests the tournament is likely to return to Melbourne for 2016 despite troubles with the MCG surface.
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