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.
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However, Guardiola, the former Bayern Munich boss, says when the two come together inside the China’s Bird’s Nest Stadium for the first Manchester derby outside of the United Kingdom, he will have no problem recognizing the Portugues coach. We can not just run away and disappear and not play.
On the plus side, no Mourinho-Guardiola handshake, and no intense scrutiny of said handshake.
“So if you ask me my objective for the match tomorrow I only have one: take the players home safe without any kind of injury”. “Of course I will shake his hand”. Such was City’s desire to play the fixture they sent deputy head groundsman Craig Knight to work with officials at the Olympic Stadium.
“He [Mourinho] wants to win, I want to win”, the Spaniard added. “I hope our players and City’s players can go home without injury”.
Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola also raised concerns about the state of the pitch.
“As he said to the press, he said to me about playing No.10”. Both teams look in good shape with two top managers. “We didn’t see the pitch but there is a lot of water in the last (few) days, so we understand it’s not in a good condition”, he said.
The cancellation is definitive, since both clubs have strict traveling schedules and there’s no other date available to accommodate a new game.
The 35-year-old feels pre-season preparations have gone well so far, with an opportunity for some important bonding with the new manager, coaching staff and players.
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After a 4-1 loss to Borussia Dortmund on Friday, and now the hard weather conditions in Beijing, United’s trip to China has not been ideal preparation for the upcoming Premier League campaign.
