Five presents more live football action with coverage of this pre-season friendly. Manchester City prepare for another testing season in the Premier League with a trip to the HSH Nordbank Arena in Germany to take on Hamburg SV. Presented by Colin Murray with commentary from Tony Jones. Kick-off is at 16.00.
The weight of expectation will once again be on Manchester City as they warm up for another tough season in the Premiership. New manager Mark Hughes, recruited from Blackburn, will be hoping to stamp his influence on the team and satisfy club owner Thaksin Shinawatra, who unceremoniously sacked his predecessor, Sven- Goran Erikson, at the end of last season.
Man City have a busy pre-season in prospect with friendlies against Stockport County, Celtic and AC Milan. The club also face two UEFA Cup firstround qualifying games against Faroe Island minnows EB/Streymur. Having finished ninth in the Premier League last time around, Man City qualified for the UEFA Cup via the fair-play rankings.
Manchester’s highest-profile signing so far this summer is Brazilian striker Jo, acquired for an undisclosed club-record fee – thought to be in the region of £18 million. The club shrugged off interest from Valencia to snatch the 21-year-old from CSKA Moscow. Elsewhere, City have made no secret of their ambition to lure out-of-favour superstar Ronaldinho from Barcelona. However, with interest from other big sides – including AC Milan – the former World Player of the Year has yet to indicate where his preferences lie.
Man City’s opponents in this game, Hamburg SV, also run out with a new manager, albeit one familiar to followers of the Premiership. Former Tottenham coach Martin Jol has taken the reins at the German side, who play at the 57,000-capacity HSH Nordbank Arena. Hamburg have a long and distinguished history in the Bundesliga, but have not won the league since 1983, and could only finish fourth at the last time of asking. Jol will be hoping to get his Hamburg career off to a flying start with a morale-boosting victory over the Manchester side.
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