The first derby between Manchester United and Manchester City outside the UK has been cancelled due to poor weather and pitch conditions.
The meeting between the two Manchester giants, which was scheduled to be held on Monday afternoon (UK time), was billed as more than just another derby between the two clubs. It would have been the first face-off between Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola as Manchester United and Manchester City managers respectively.
Both United and City confirmed the cancellation of the game via their official twitter accounts.
Due to recent weather events, tournament organisers & participating clubs have decided to cancel tonight’s International Champions Cup game.
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 25, 2016
Today’s friendly with Manchester United has been cancelled. More: https://t.co/zmob4TVFTf #mcfc #cityontour pic.twitter.com/MJKq1zxGdn
— Manchester City (@ManCity) July 25, 2016
“Due to recent weather events, tournament organisers and participating clubs have made the decision to cancel tonight’s International Champions Cup fixture to be played in Beijing tonight, 25 July,” confirmed Manchester City in an official statement.
Important to avoid injuries, says Mourinho
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho expressed his concerns about the safety of his players as he felt that the pitch conditions were not good enough for a Manchester derby.
“City against United for me is at Old Trafford or at the Etihad or even the cup final at Wembley,” Mourinho was quoted saying to ESPN. “The pitch is very bad and the condition of my players is more important than results. We cannot just run away and disappear and not play, so we have to play and try to be lucky.”
The Red Devils have made a poor start to their pre-season after they suffered a 4-1 loss at the hands of Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund on Friday. The Manchester derby presented an opportunity for Mourinho and his men to redeem themselves against their arch rivals.
However, Mourinho himself admitted that he did not have most of his key players in his side in order to tackle the threat posed by Pep Guardiola’s Man City.
“Manchester City have all of their players. We have six, seven or eight, which played in the Euros [and have not travelled to China]. What I want is to get back to Manchester and train with the full group,” said Mourinho.
Currently, UEFA rules state that the players who have participated in the 2016 European Championships have to be given three weeks off irrespective of the club’s pre-season schedule. A number of Manchester United players are yet to join the squad, with the likes of Marouane Fellaini, Morgan Schneiderlin and Chris Smalling all still on holiday.
