Hong Kong hosts Man City, Chelsea, Inter and Juventus in the friendly match

English and Italian football giants Manchester City, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Juventus will prepare for friendly matches in Hong Kong in August, the clubs announced on Tuesday.

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, currently arm-wrestling with Arsenal for the Premier League title, will take on Inter Milan on Saturday, August 1, led by their Norwegian goalscoring machine Erling Haaland.

The match kicks off the “Hong Kong Football Festival” at the city’s futuristic 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium.

Opened a year ago, the gleaming arena features a roof that can be closed and air conditioning to combat Hong Kong’s fierce summer heat and humidity.

Chelsea will play Juventus on Wednesday, August 5, to conclude the mini-tournament.

Inter, under former Romanian international Cristian Chivu, are eight points clear at the top of Serie A and aiming for a 21st title, second only to Juventus, who have won a record 36 Italian top-flight championships.

Juventus are fourth and are looking for a place in the Champions League under Luciano Spalletti.

Chelsea beat Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) to win the Club World Cup in the United States last year, but have since parted ways with then-manager Enzo Maresca.

Liam Rosenior took charge but is under pressure to keep his job after Chelsea lost five of their last six Premier League matches and fell to sixth, seven points off the Champions League places.

It remains to be seen whether Rosenior will still be in charge when Chelsea land in Hong Kong, as they also lost 2-8 to PSG in the last 16 of the Champions League this season.

All teams will hold open training sessions ahead of matches, giving Hong Kong fans an extra chance to see star players such as City’s Gianluigi Donnarumma, Chelsea’s Cole Palmer, Inter’s Lautaro Martinez and Juventus’s Dusan Vlahovic.

The action doesn’t stop there for fans in the football-mad southern Chinese city, as Bayern Munich and Aston Villa have already announced they will play a friendly match in Hong Kong on Friday, August 7.

During last year’s pre-season, 50,000 sold-out spectators in Hong Kong watched Liverpool play AC Milan and Tottenham play Arsenal in the first North London derby outside Britain.

Tens of thousands of people also came to watch the teams’ open training sessions.

Published on April 21, 2026