Manchester City vs. Manchester United: 2016 ICC Time, TV Schedule, Live Stream
The 2016 International Champions Cup will continue on Monday as Manchester City and Manchester United prepare to collide in Beijing, each seeking the first win of their respective campaigns.
Tensions are always high in any Manchester derby, but Monday's duel holds a special significance as the first derby encounter ever to be outside the United Kingdom.
Aside from the plethora of stars on the pitch, City manager Pep Guardiola and United chief Jose Mourinho will also steal their share of the headlines as they prepare to meet for the first time as managers of English clubs.
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Read on for a preview of the fixture's biggest headlines ahead of Monday's meeting, complete with all the essential viewing information to ensure you don't miss a minute of the action.
Date: Monday, July 25
Time: 12:30 p.m. BST/7:30 a.m. ET
Venue: Bird's Nest (National Stadium), Beijing
TV Info: MUTV, ESPN2 (U.S.)
Manchester City Under Mounting Pressure
Monday's outing will be the first of Manchester City's two 2016 ICC matchups this week (the second being on Thursday against Borussia Dortmund), as the Citizens will attempt to bounce back from the 1-0 defeat they suffered against Guardiola's former club Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
Likewise, United dropped 4-1 to Borussia Dortmund on Friday, with several high-profile players disappointing. The Manchester Evening News' Samuel Luckhurst doubts Memphis Depay's involvement moving forward:
The Red Devils have yet to flex their squad's full muscle in pre-season, but BBC Sport's Simon Stone reported on Saturday that Guardiola will have full access to all his options for the trip to the Bird's Nest:
Despite there being no small amount of pride at stake for Monday's "friendly" encounter, both Guardiola and Mourinho have shown a willingness to experiment with some of their younger disciples thus far on tour.
Both teams lost in their most recent outings and are under pressure to discover winning ways in the International Champions Cup. A tense clash awaits as both teams gather momentum in fitness.
Guardiola and Mourinho Take Centre Stage
Despite both managers' attempts to deflect attention from their sideline head-to-head in recent days, it's inevitable that some of the attention will fall on Guardiola and Mourinho on Monday.
Sky Sports New HQ illustrated how former Barcelona boss Guardiola holds the greater bragging rights over former Real Madrid chief Mourinho in their previous meetings:
As tense as the rivalry may be between the two, though, the conditions in Beijing may mean the level of competition is limited, as emphasized by Mourinho in a recent press conference:
"City against United for me is at Old Trafford or at the Etihad or even the cup final at Wembley. Not a friendly. Maybe with these conditions it’s a double friendly.
I think Beijing is unlucky because the pitch is very bad. The condition of my players is more important than the results in pre-season. I have only one goal from tomorrow’s match, take the players home safe.
"
While Mourinho's record against Guardiola doesn't make for pleasant reading, the Portuguese is unbeaten in his last three meetings opposite the Spaniard, two of which were victories.
Poor conditions or not, however, a meeting between two managerial masterminds of such a high calibre is bound to create fireworks in what will be one of the more enticing side stories in Beijing.
