4am kick-offs, Guardiola impact and Twitter - how Man City fans in Japan and Korea support a team they can't watch

Gone are the days where pre-season fixtures for a club like Manchester City consist of meetings with local neighbours or visiting European teams.

These days a two-week tour of the USA, Asia or Australia is commonplace for Premier League clubs, enabling them to reach fans (and important commercial markets) that are off-limits during the regular season.

Pep Guardiola and his side will focus on the training pitch and the three friendlies they have scheduled in Tokyo and Seoul over the next fortnight, while City will take a huge travelling party of media and commercial staff to maximise all opportunities out in Japan and South Korea.

Some of those opportunities will give local fans the chance to engage with the newly-crowned treble winners, giving supporters based in Asia a rare chance to watch City in person - and at sociable hours for a change.

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City take on Yokohama and Bayern Munich in Tokyo, before flying to Seoul to face Atletico Madrid. All games kick off between 7pm and 8pm in the local time zones, making a welcome departure from the usual overnight hours they are used to when it comes to watching the Blues.

A normal Saturday 3pm kick-off begins at 11pm for Japanese and Korean supporters, with a Saturday evening kick-off starting at 1.30am on a Sunday. For midweek evening games in the UK, it would mean waking up at 4am to catch a Champions League game.

"Unfortunately, we can't watch every game as a group," says Taira Hosoya of the Tokyo Official Supporters' Club.

"Lunchtime kickoff in the UK is an easy time to watch in Japan [12.30pm in the UK is 8.30pm in Tokyo], so I sometimes watch it with a group. Whether it was against