But organisers have worked around the clock to ensure the first Manchester derby to be held outside the United Kingdom goes ahead.
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Guardiola has other concerns ahead of Monday’s game, with heavy rainfall in the Chinese capital during the last week leaving the pitch at the Bird’s Nest in poor condition.
United boss Jose Mourinho criticised pitch conditions at the Bird’s Nest Stadium at the weekend, saying his only objective was to get his players home healthy.
“But for training we can control the situation by doing very little and by not bringing the players into risky situations”. No reason why. He wants to win, I want to win, that’s all.
“What happened with Vincent Kompany the last two years was so hard for him and the team”, he told reporters.
The M.E.N.’s coverage of Manchester United’s pre-season tour of China is in association with Marathon Bet.
“The ones in the first plane were lucky because the plane was great and we land safely and we were in the hotel in good conditions to have dinner. I just hope the players keep that balance and there are no problems”. We can not just run away and disappear and not play.
‘Normally when you say lucky you say lucky because you want a good result. They want to win, we want win.
City new boy Nolito has revealed he turned down the chance to re-join Barcelona because he wanted to play for Pep Guardiola. We have six, seven or eight, which played in the Euros [and have not travelled to China].
“What I want is to get back to Manchester and train with the full group”.
Earlier in the day Pep Guardiola, the City head coach, held his own media briefing in the same room at the Olympic Sports Centre in Beijing.
“You play Thursday and then I don’t think they are going to play us Monday, they are going to play us Sunday, probably at 12 o’clock”.
“But in my club we are not going to have that”.
The rivalry between the two managers dates back to 2009, when Guardiola was at Barcelona and Mourinho was managing Inter Milan.
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City began their pre-season preparations with a 1-0 defeat away to Guardiola’s previous club Bayern Munich last Wednesday in which the German side fielded a much stronger team, certainly for the first half when Guardiola sent out five rookies and a few more after the break.
