Manchester United's tour of China has been a bit of a nightmare so far – a heavy defeat to Borussia Dortmund, a flight to Beijing having to make an emergency landing, a prematch press conference having to be shifted because the place was "too hot and full" and a pitch at the Bird's Nest Stadium which has been found to have fungus growing out of it. On Monday, however, all of those problems will hopefully, be put to the back burner, as Mourinho's Manchester United play Pep Guardiola's Manchester City in an International Champions Cup match.
Jose Mourinho made it quite clear that his intention is to fulfill his team's obligations and fly the Manchester United squad back to Europe as quickly as possible, and while all the issues might have been exaggerated just a touch, it has highlighted the travails of chasing a buck at the possible expense of the team not getting the preparations it needs in order to start the new season on a high.
However, it is what it is, as the Portuguese alluded to, and all he can hope for is that his Manchester United players do not get injured, with the pitch at the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing not in the greatest of conditions, largely down to the excessive rain that the city has suffered over the past few days.
"We cannot just run away and disappear and not play," Mourinho told reporters on Sunday. "So we have to play and try to be lucky. Normally when you say lucky it is because you want a good result. The result I want tomorrow is to go home without injuries, and that is the luck I want."
Guardiola echoed his bête noir's words. "No injuries," the new Manchester City manager, whose team lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich in their first preseason friendly, said. "We didn't see the pitch but there is a lot of water in the last days so we understand it's not in a good condition but OK, we're going to adapt and adjust.
"It's our second game of preparation – the most important thing is that the players are not going to be injured."
While avoiding injuries will be both manager's primary objective, neither will want to lose to the other, even if it is only a preseason friendly. Both Mourinho and Guardiola might seem cordial at this juncture of the season, but when the pressure volume is turned up, expect some friction.
For the here and now, though, it is about getting the Manchester United and Manchester City players back up to speed. The likes of Wayne Rooney, Chris Smalling and David De Gea did not feature in Manchester United's opening International Champions Cup match, a 4-1 defeat to Dortmund, and it remains to be seen if Mourinho takes a risk with some of his star players. Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Eric Bailly played in the defeat, and the two new signings will want to put in better performances against Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola has brought the likes of Sergio Aguero, Joe Hart, Raheem Sterling and David Silva on this International Champions Cup China tour, but with their preseason preparations still very much at its nascent stage, it won't be a surprise if most of those big names do not feature.
Update: The derby has been called off. More info HERE
Live Streaming and TV information:
Manchester City vs Manchester United -- International Champions Cup match -- is scheduled for a 7.30 p.m. local time (5 p.m. IST, 12.30 p.m. BST, 7.30 a.m. ET) start.
India: TV: Sony ESPN. Live Streaming: Sonyliv.
UK: TV: MUTV. Live streaming: MUTV Online.
China: TV: Guangdong Sports and LeTV.
Spain: TV: Mega TV.
Portugal: TV: Sport TV1.
Germany: TV: Sport1.
Philippines, Indonesia and France: TV: Bein Sports. Live Streaming: Bein Sports Connect.
USA: TV: ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes. Live Streaming: Watch ESPN.
Canada: TV: TSN 4 and 5. Live Streaming: TSN TV.
Thailand: TV: PPTV.
Singapore: TV: Starhub. Live Streaming: Starhub Go.
Australia: TV: Optus Sport.
