Mourinho Predicts "Amazing" Derby On Tour

Jose Mourinho believes fans are in for an "amazing" experience when Houston hosts the first Manchester derby to be played outside the UK on Thursday 20 July.

United and local rivals City will meet 4,700 miles from home in an International Champions Cup fixture, one of seven matches on the Reds' Tour 2017, presented by Aon.

The game, which will be shown live on MUTV, comes 12 months after the first attempt to stage an overseas derby was cancelled due to bad weather in Beijing and Mourino says he will use it to do further important work on his side's preparations for 2017/18.

The manager told ManUtd.com recently: "Without the European Championships or the World Cup this summer, I think every club will start the pre-season period with all of their players. I’m going to have the chance to try things and to work on things and [Pep] Guardiola will do the same for sure.

"For me, and probably for him, the result of the game will not be the most important thing but [it’s about] the quality of the football we play and trying to put into practice the things we will work on in the days and weeks before.

"I think for the fans it will be amazing because they have two of the big clubs and it’s a derby. Last summer we couldn’t play this game in China but now we will play it in great conditions, the organisation will be at the top level and I think it’s a great opportunity for us and for City to show ourselves in America and to prepare ourselves for the new Premier League season."

Mourinho says he has enjoyed experiencing the passion for football in Manchester during his first year at the club and says he is impressed by the respectful relationship between United and City.

"I like it [the rivalry]," he declared. "And I like it because I think it’s a good rivalry. We played each other three times in the last season – two matches in the Premier League and once in the League Cup – and they were good games, competitive matches with close results – 2-1, 1-0, 0-0.

"There was good emotion and I always felt there was good, fair play and good relations between the players who are rivals on the pitch but living in the same city. They probably they see each other around the place! With the fans I felt passion but respect. It’s one of these kinds of rivalries that I think are only good for both clubs."

When asked to compare the Manchester derby with similar contest he's experienced elsewhere, he acknowledged: "I have done all the big ones. Inter against Milan, Real Madrid against Atletico and Barcelona, Porto against Benfica, lots of London derbies when I was at Chelsea and now this one.

"All of them are different but all of them are the same. They are different because the cultures are different and the clubs are different, but they are all the same because they always become a little bit more than three points and a bit more than just a game because of that emotional factor."

Tickets for Manchester United v Manchester City at Houston's NRG Stadium went on general sale on Wednesday, 7 June. For more information, see www.manutd.com/tour2017.