Man Utd to face Guardiola’s City in Beijing

Ian Watson

Utd and City: To meet in friendly derby in Beijing

Manchester United and Manchester City are to face each other in China this summer as part of the International Champions Cup (ICC), the clubs have announced.

The match will take place in the Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing on July 25 and will be one of City’s first under Pep Guardiola, who is set to succeed Manuel Pellegrini at the start of that month.

The ICC tournament will also see United play Borussia Dortmund in Shanghai on July 22, and City take on the German side in Shenzhen on July 28.

Former United defender Nemanja Vidic said on MUTV: “I think it’s great news we’re coming on tour to China.

“We have so many followers in the country, over 100 million fans and it’s good to visit them and spend some time with them. They’re really passionate about United.

“I was in China in 2007 and I have to say the amount of energy we got from the fans there was unbelievable.”

Former United midfielder Bryan Robson said: “They’re great games to look forward to.

“Dortmund are just behind Bayern Munich as the biggest team in Germany and have some fabulous players.

“It’ll be a treat for the fans to experience a derby game. People have said it’ll be one of (Pep) Guardiola’s first games as City manager but that doesn’t matter as much as it’s a derby and you have to go out there and try to win.”

Other English clubs who will be taking part in ICC pre-season games this summer are Barclays Premier League leaders Leicester along with Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham.

Leicester will take on Celtic in Glasgow on July 23, Paris St Germain in Los Angeles on July 31 and then Barcelona in Stockholm on August 3.

Liverpool and Chelsea will go head-to-head on July 27, with the former then playing AC Milan on July 30 – both games occurring at California venues.

The Reds then face Barca on August 6 at a venue that is yet to be confirmed.

Chelsea’s other ICC games are against Real Madrid on July 30 (venue to be confirmed) and Milan in Minneapolis on August 3.

Tottenham are set to play two matches in Melbourne, against Juventus and Atletico Madrid on July 26 and 29 respectively.