- Manchester City’s match with Borussia Monchengladbach was called off
- Fierce thunderstorms in Manchester forced the city’s Metrolink to close
- The group stage match has been rescheduled for Wednesday at 7.45pm
- City offered the Germans a chance to stay at their luxury training ground
Manchester City offered Borussia Monchengladbach the opportunity to stay at their luxury training ground accommodation after Tuesday night’s game was postponed.
Torrential rain battered the city ahead of the Champions League clash, with referee Bjorn Kuipers calling the fixture off just 20 minutes before kick-off.
City and their German visitors were locked in discussions for over two hours in an attempt to reschedule for Wednesday, the result being a 7:45pm start.
Monchengladbach angled for an early kick-off, understood to have been around 3pm, because of travel preferences after the game. City successfully argued they could not organise sufficient stewarding for the afternoon.
Only a fraction of the 1,600 travelling supporters will be in the North West, given most were booked on flights back to Germany early on Wednesday morning.
The hosts did offer the Monchengladbach squad their plush £200million City Football Academy facilities, where Manuel Pellegrini had his stars staying the night before home matches, as way of recompense for the postponement.
City’s hotel inside their training quarters is rated as four-star, with king-sized beds and en suite bathrooms.
It stands over the road from the Etihad Stadium and would have meant a short trip for the Monchengladbach side after Wednesday’s game.
Pep Guardiola has already made the decision to no longer use that accommodation before games, instead allowing his players to spend time with their families.
A Monchengladbach spokesman said: ‘City offered us the chance to spend the next night in their academy, but that would have made no difference to us because the hotel wasn’t a problem. We wanted to fly back tomorrow [Wednesday].’
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