Manchester City's pre-season tour to China finally got off the ground on Monday – but Pep Guardiola's will have less than 36 hours to prepare his team for their opening game in the Premier League's Asia Trophy.
City departed Manchester Airport at the third time of asking after two previous flights to the Far East had to be cancelled due to an administrative cock-up.
The Premier League champions flew out on a journey that now includes a connection in Abu Dhabi.
An 11-hour flight time has now been extended to 16 hours due to the detour.
And that means the City squad will land in Shanghai tomorrow morning before facing West Ham in Nanjing on Wednesday night.
City insists the tight schedule will still give the players enough time to prepare properly for the game against the Hammers in a tournament which also includes Newcastle and Wolves .
The three other clubs all arrived in China as scheduled.
Etihad officials said Guardiola was happy to pose with fans for pictures and sign autographs before City departed Manchester.
But the City boss will be angry that his pre-season preparations have not gone to plan.
The Catalan is famous for being a meticulous operator.
He was left frustrated on the club's last trip to China in 2016, when a derby against local rivals United in Beijing was cancelled because of a waterlogged pitch.
City were meant to fly on Saturday night, but were grounded when it was discovered that Thomas Cook had failed to book an air-space slot for the team's chartered jet.
The same issue arose 24 hours later, leaving officials even more red-faced.
