By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Aug. 8 (Yonhap) -- Manchester City head coach Enzo Maresca said Saturday he was "excited" to go up against the Spanish club Atletico Madrid and their new signing Lee Kang-in in a preseason match in Seoul this weekend, calling the South Korean star a "fantastic" player.

The two clubs will clash as part of the Coupang Play Series at 8 p.m. Sunday at Seoul World Cup Stadium. The annual series has been bringing popular European football clubs to South Korea for preseason matches since 2022, and Man City and Atletico Madrid also met in 2023, with the Spanish team winning 2-1.

This year's showdown will have a distinct local flavor, with Atletico Madrid having recently acquired Lee, one of South Korea's most beloved football stars. The midfielder is set for his Atleti debut on home soil.

"He sure is a very good player. Fantastic," Maresca said of Lee during his prematch press conference at Mokdong Stadium in Seoul. "We are excited to play tomorrow against Atletico Madrid in general, against him, against their (other) new players. Again, I am sure that he will be very good for Atletico Madrid."

Maresca took over from the wildly successful Pep Guardiola in June this year. Maresca served as one of Guardiola's assistants in the 2022-2023 season, when they pulled off the continental treble by capturing the Premier League, UEFA Champions League and FA Cup titles.

Maresca is back after managing Leicester City and Chelsea and will try to fill the big shoes of Guardiola, who won 20 domestic and continental trophies during his 10 years at Man City.

"No pressure, just a privilege," Maresca said of his first season as Man City boss. He led them to a 3-1 win over Team K League in the earlier Coupang Play Series match on Wednesday in Seoul.

"For me, this is a huge privilege to be here, to be a City manager. Then in terms of expectation, this is a club that needs to win titles, needs to compete for titles and we are going to try to do exactly the same," he added.

Maresca said he appreciated the way his players have been "very open-minded" about working with a new manager and about embracing changes to structures and patterns.

Defender Rico Lewis, who made his Man City debut in the 2022-2023 season with Maresca as an assistant, said he likes Maresca's communication style.

"From the first week, we knew what it was going to be like. It was very direct, very clear, very honest and it has followed in the change room and into the sessions," Lewis said. "Everything is clear, the patterns, the way he wants us to work. I think that is an important thing as a player to have a clear path, a clear idea of what you want to do and what the manager wants from you. And that has been how it has been so far."

jeeho@yna.co.kr

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