The hotly anticipated pre-season meeting between Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United and Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City has been cancelled.
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The International Champions Cup fixture between Manchester United and Manchester City has been called off because of concerns over the state of the pitch at the Bird’s Nest stadium.
This follows heavy torrential rain that recently hit the Bird’s Nest Stadium forcing officials to cancel the match.
Reports reveal that the replacement turf on the field has been washed away, as both sides had to train on alternative pitches in the build-up.
Jose Mourinho has admitted that Manchester United can not wait to get home from their pre-season trip to China.
“I think Beijing is unlucky because the pitch is very bad”.
With the weather certain to play its part however, a draw appears a realistic result between two rivals with plenty to play for when the Premier League kicks off next month.
They will return home having played one match-a 4-1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund-and having endured changeable weather conditions, which forced one of Mourinho’s press conferences to be moved outside at the last minute and also caused one of their flights to make an emergency landing, per the Daily Mail’s Chris Wheeler.
Gael Clichy says the players are enjoying Pep Guardiola’s approach as they prepare for their ICC clash with Man United.
“We had our groundsman working for 10 days on the pitch, but the conditions were just too risky for the players”, said Kompany Monday on the club’s website.
“It is nearly the end and we can go home and train in conditions where the players are safe”.
“Today all the big clubs in the world are coming here to China”.
But with conditions so worrying, he urged his players not to treat the game like a competitive derby.
“City v United, for me, is Old Trafford or the Etihad or a Cup Final at Wembley, not a friendly”, Mourinho said. After we know the conditions, it’s maybe a double friendly. We can not just run away and disappear and not play.
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The game had been due to be played in front of a crowd of around 45,000 fans, but organisers are now set to issue refunds for those who had bought tickets. “With this manager and the good players they already have – I’m sure they are going to buy new players – and they will be a strong team”.
