Monday 25 July 2016 18:48, UK
Manchester United's tour of China took another turn for the worse as their International Champions Cup clash with Manchester City was called off due to concerns over the state of the pitch in Beijing.
Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola's sides were due to play at the Bird's Nest Stadium at 12.30pm, but the pitch was deemed unplayable after rain overnight.
It was the latest stroke of bad luck for United. From their heavy defeat to Borussia Dortmund to the abandoned Manchester derby, we look at what's gone wrong...
United's tour started with a 4-1 thrashing by Borussia Dortmund in Shanghai on Friday. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Ousmane Dembele and Gonzalo Castro were on target for the Bundesliga outfit, with United's consolation goal coming from their new signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
The scoreline was far from ideal for their first major friendly under Mourinho, but the new manager put it down to differences in preparation. Dortmund had already played four summer friendlies, while United's only match action had come with a 2-0 win over Wigan Athletic.
"I know that in pre-season the team that is in the advanced stage of preparation looks far better than the other team," he said. "If we did not know, I think after 10 minutes we know that one team started training 10 days ago and played one match and the other team started one month ago and already played four matches."
United chartered two flights from Shanghai to Beijing for the second leg of their tour on Saturday, but their plans were disrupted when one of the planes was forced to make an emergency landing due to adverse weather conditions around Beijing.
The events were described in a video posted by Memphis Depay on Facebook. "We're lost somewhere," he said. "We had to make a quick landing. We tried to fly to Beijing but the weather is a little bit bad so we had to land somewhere else. Now we're waiting until the weather gets a little bit easier so we can land."
While the first group landed on schedule to have their evening meal in the hotel, Mourinho later revealed the second group did not arrive until 1am on Sunday.
United were scheduled to train at the Bird's Nest Stadium on their first day in Beijing, but in order to protect the playing surface they were hastily moved to the Olympic Sports Centre some four miles away.
This caused further complications, with Mourinho forced to hold his pre-match press briefing on the side of the stadium pitch due to stifling heat inside the overcrowded conference room where journalists were waiting to hear from the United manager.
Mourinho then voiced his concerns over the Bird's Nest pitch. "I think Beijing is unlucky because the pitch is very bad," he said. "My only objective is to take the players home safe and without injury. These are no conditions to play a good game of football."
He also admitted he couldn't wait to return to Manchester and begin training with his full squad.
After more torrential rain, the decision was taken to call off the game on Monday morning, with United confirming the news on their website. "Due to recent weather events, tournament organisers and participating clubs have made the decision to cancel the International Champions Cup fixture to be played in Beijing tonight, 25 July," it read.
United executive vice chairman Ed Woodward added: "It's extremely disappointing not to be able to play the game in this amazing stadium but the recent torrential rain would have caused problems anywhere in the world and has left the pitch unplayable.
"We know our fans in China will, like the players and staff, be saddened by the cancellation of the match but I am sure they appreciate that the player safety has to be the top priority. I am sure we will return to the Bird's Nest in the future to give them the chance to see the team in action."
United will fly back to Manchester on Sunday evening having only played one game in China. Their next fixture is a friendly against Galatasaray in the Swedish city of Gothenburg on Saturday, with Wayne Rooney's testimonial against Everton on August 3 their only other game before the Community Shield against Leicester on August 7 and the Premier League kick-off against Bournemouth on Sunday, August 14.
