**Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City players were forced to endure a prolonged afternoon of difficulties following the 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace.**
It was yet further ground lost in the pursuit of an unprecedented fifth consecutive Premier League title at the weekend for the reigning champions as their brief return to winning ways through a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest was halted by Oliver Glasner’s squad.
Daniel Munoz and Maxence Lacroix provided the goals for the hosts on Saturday afternoon with Erling Haaland and Rico Lewis on the scoresheet for the visitors, whilst the latter would succumb to a second-yellow card and sending off before the full-time whistle.
In a busy week for Manchester City and a crucial one on and off the pitch when it comes to their hopes of end-of-season success, planning and preparations are meticulous but those arrangements came crashing down on Saturday evening.
Following the 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, Manchester City were preparing for an hour-long hop back north via the chartered airliner that brought them down to London just 24 hours earlier.
However, shortly after the full-time whistle, it was confirmed that the Premier League champions’ flight back from London Biggin Hill Airport to Manchester had been cancelled due to the adverse weather conditions hitting the UK.
As such, Pep Guardiola and his squad were forced to return back to the City Football Academy via a 242 mile, four-and-a-half hour coach journey ahead of a crunch week for the club on the pitch involving a trip to Italy.
Manchester City will embark on their latest European adventure on Tuesday afternoon before undergoing media duties in Turin later in the day ahead of Wednesday night’s crucial clash in the Champions League.
Open training session duties are expected to be completed at the City Football Academy on Tuesday morning, which will give supporters an early indication as to which players are available for selection.