Manchester City were kicking off their Champions League charge at home to Napoli, but viewers on TNT Sports 2 were temporarily forced to watch the build-up to Newcastle United's blockbuster clash against Barcelona instead.
The general view inside Man City's Etihad Stadium home.
The general view inside Man City's Etihad Stadium home.(Image: CameraSport via Getty Images)
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TNT Sports were forced to apologise in the build-up to Manchester City's Champions League opener against Napoli as their coverage was hampered by technical difficulties. Kevin De Bruyne, alongside ex-Manchester United duo Rasmus Hojlund and Scott McTominay, were looking to damage City's hopes of a strong start in the top European competition this season.
However, the broadcaster's build-up to the encounter at the Etihad Stadium was interrupted due to a fault which meant that TNT Sports 1's coverage of Newcastle United and Barcelona featured predominantly. The incident occurred around 7.15pm shortly after Gianluigi Donnarumma's sit down interview and as a result, some coverage from the north east was aired instead for a few minutes.
A statement panned across the screen, which read: "We apologise for the technical difficulties. We return to Man City vs Napoli on TNT 2 shortly."
Shortly after 7.31pm, coverage from Manchester returned to show the City players emerging for the warm-up.
Presenter Reshmin Chowdhury said: "Hello welcome back everybody, we did have to leave you for a short while, due to technical issues, but we're back and so are they.
"This is the Etihad, and this is Manchester City taking on Italian champions Napoli in their opener of this season's league phase. It pits Pep Guardiola against Antonio Conte - what a match this will be. There will be some familiar faces to Manchester, as well."
City were looking to follow their Premier League rivals Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, who made a winning start to the league phase following their wins in midweek.
Pep Guardiola's side were attempting to continue their momentum following the weekend's Manchester derby triumph over United, as they ran out comfortable 3-0 winners against their neighbours.
But with the new-look backroom staff, assembled by their esteemed Catalan tactician, City were also looking to avenge a poor Champions League campaign last term which saw them exit the competition in the play-off round to Spanish giants Real Madrid.
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