Why Man City are late for Real Madrid press conference ahead of Champions League game

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Manchester City are due to hold a press conference at the Bernabeu on Tuesday but they are running late for their UEFA obligations

Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola
Man City are running late for their pre-match press conference in Madrid(Image: Getty Images)

Manchester City's pre-match press conference ahead of their Champions League game with Real Madrid has been delayed after Pep Guardiola's squad arrived late into the Spanish capital.

City trained at the CFA on Tuesday morning before departing Manchester Airport on a chartered flight to Madrid, but their arrival has been delayed and a press conference due to begin at 6.45pm local time has been pushed back.

Guardiola and captain Bernardo Silva are due to speak to a large media audience ahead of the fixture between two European giants on Wednesday, but City's flight only arrived a few minutes before their scheduled appearance at the Bernabeu.

While the rest of the squad will head to the hotel, Guardiola and Silva are on their way to Real's stadium to hold their press conference, which is part of UEFA's obligations and should begin before 8pm local time under UEFA guidelines. UEFA sources are expecting City to be at least half-an-hour late.

Guardiola will provide an update on the fitness of Rodri in his press conference and he could also offer support to Real boss Xabi Alonso, who is coming under pressure from the Spanish media.

Alonso held a fractious 10-minute press conference at Real's Valdebebas training ground on Tuesday morning and was forced to insist the dressing room was still behind him after a disappointing run of form led to reports the players were doubting his methods.

Guardiola coached Alonso while he was in charge at Bayern Munich and has spoken warmy of the Spaniard previously.


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