Heavy thunderstorms are forecast in the Chinese capital and while City now view the surface as playable the club continues to monitor it. Sunday’s training session for each club was moved the nearby Olympic Sports Centre on Sunday.
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Jose Mourinho: “We are unlucky because the pitch is very bad“.
The pre-season continues for Manchester City on Monday, as Pep Guardiola’s new side take on Manchester United in a Derby that will be contested in Beijing, China.
“Further details and statements will follow”.
The pitch has been hit by fungus and although the affected areas have been dug up, torrential rain in Beijing has washed away the replacement turf, leaving a unsafe playing surface.
Hours earlier, after being handed a towel to wipe his brow during a stifling press conference at the same hastily-arranged venue, Guardiola admitted that the pitch was a worry for him and his players.
Sunday’s training session was switched hastily to the smaller Olympic Sports Centre to preserve the famous Bird’s Nest stadium’s pitch following days of storms in the Chinese capital that have left the ground saturated. He has compared the Portuguese manager, to former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson. The two sides will now next meet in the Premier League at Old Trafford on September 10.
With no game taking place today, United will head back home to Manchester on Monday as planned, while City will jet off to Shenzhen on Tuesday for Thursday’s game against Borussia Dortmund.
Manager Jose Mourinho said he was not anxious after his Manchester United side lost 4-1 to Borussia Dortmund in a pre-season friendly in Shanghai. We try to do it in the best organised way but sometimes there are factors you can not control.
“We thank all parties who contributed to the planned staging of this match, in particular the tens of thousands of fans who committed to purchasing tickets”.
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Manchester United were forced to make an emergency landing 100 miles from Beijing airport yesterday after poor weather. “With this manager and the good players they already have, I’m sure they are going to buy new payers, and they will be a strong team”. Why should we not shake hands?
