This isn’t the way Jose Mourinho dreamed of starting his career at Manchester United.
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The cancellation of the scheduled derby in Beijing on Monday means that attentions will turn to next season’s league campaign with their first meeting being on Sep.
The Chinese capital has been hit by storms in recent days and after another significant downpour overnight, the ICC and both clubs made a decision to call off the match because of worries about player safety.
Kompany said: “It’s sad for us, it’s sad for our fans”.
If you were looking forward to the Manchester derby in China, prepare to be hugely disappointed.
“I think Beijing is unlucky because the pitch is bad and condition of the players is more important than pre-season”, said Mourinho.
“It’s a big disappointment for us”.
Speaking about his plans, Mourinho insists he wants to train with his whole group for the Galatasaray, Everton and Leicester City games.
“Of course I will shake his hand”.
“We are very disappointed not to be able to play for our supporters here in Beijing”.
“We didn’t see the pitch but the information we have is there could be a lot of rain in the last day so it’s not in good condition”, he added.
“We are so sorry”.
“The ones in the first plane was lucky because we landed safely and were in the hotel to have dinner”.
“Hopefully we will see you all soon”.
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Manchester City are due to face Borussia Dormund in Shenzen on Thursday, before travelling to Gotenburg to face Arsenal on Sunday August 7. That was hours after Pep Guardiola held his briefing and had to wipe his brow with a towel because of the temperature and humidity. “No reason why. He will want to win and so will I, that’s all”, the City boss told a news conference after training at Beijing’s Olympic Sports Centre ahead of the International Champions Cup pre-season tour match. Manchester City will look to win the match for their new boss and have some bragging rights against their rivals.
