For the past 10 days, their deputy head groundsman has been in Beijing working – at City’s expense – with the ground staff at the Birds Nest Stadium.
Advertisement
Pep Guardiola pushed aside any suggestion he would not shake hands with arch-rival Jose Mourinho and insisted all would be friendly when Manchester City play Manchester United in Beijing on Monday.
And with more storms forecast today, the match itself could be in the balance.
Although both clubs appear in agreement regarding the decision to cancel the game it appears City did go to great lengths to provide the game went ahead.
“Due to recent weather events, tournament organizers & participating clubs have chose to cancel tonight’s International Champions Cup game”, Manchester United said on its official twitter account. “I just wish there are no problems in the match and everyone goes home without injuries”.
Fans have understandably been excited about the first Manchester derby to be played overseas since it was first announced, but the Reds boss was quick to remind journalists at Sunday’s pre-match press conference that players’ fitness remains the priority. The latest was in the Premier League last season at the Etihad, which Manchester United won 1-0.
“We had our groundsman working for 10 days on the pitch, but the conditions were just too risky for the players. Of course I’ll shake his hand”, Mourinho said. We have a good group, we have a good spirit and we cope with it.
The managers of both teams, Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola, previously expressed their concerns for the condition of the field at the National Stadium.
Advertisement
At both press conferences – by the two managers – held last night, Pep and Jose acknowledged that they were anxious about the state of the pitch. Some of their squad who were not scheduled to play have done light training but City, who fly to Shenzhen on Tuesday for Thursday’s game against Borussia Dortmund, have not trained.
