City eager to make flying start to FIFA Club World Cup, says Nico | OneFootball

Nico has stressed the importance of City looking to make a flying start when we kick off our FIFA Club World Cup 2025 campaign against Wydad AC in Philadelphia on Wednesday.

Pep Guardiola’s side tackle the Moroccan outfit at Lincoln Financial Field in our opening clash in Group G of the newly formatted tournament, which brings together 32 teams from around the world.

The top two sides in the group will progress through to the knockout stages so it means there is precious little margin for error.

And looking ahead to the game, Nico said City had arrived in Philadelphia eager to start in impressive fashion.

WATCH THE FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP 2025 ON DAZN

“We’re all really excited to start in the FIFA Club World Cup and we really want to start the match tomorrow well in these type of competitions that are really short,” Nico said.

“The first match is so important.

“It's massive, so it's going to be maybe the most important match to start really well with the competition and if we win, everything is going to be easier.

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“We have only three matches to qualify.

“So if you don't start well in the first match, everything's going to be much more difficult.

“But I think we are in a really good shape and everyone is in a really good mood and confident."

Tomorrow’s clash will see City play our opening game in the newly expanded tournament which now brings 32 teams together from all across the globe.

After the Wydad AC clash, City tackle Al-Ain from Abu Dhabi before then rounding off our group against Juventus.

And for Nico, it’s a new challenge that he and his colleagues are relishing.

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“I think it's really interesting this idea of bringing all the best team from the world together,” the Spaniard added.

“We have to understand that other teams played different ways. I've seen for example, a Japanese team that has a lot of quality and against River Plate that are more aggressive.

“So you have to get used to different places in the world that play different football.

“We are seeing that some teams that weren't as well-known are playing at a really high level, so it's going to be a tough match tomorrow.

“And we'll see how we get used to playing against these teams from all over the world.”