Man City raise concerns over pitch ahead of Champions League game vs Young Boys

Pep Guardiola said it was common sense to play football on grass as Manchester City prepare to face Young Boys on artificial turf.

The Swiss side do not have grass in the Wankdorf Stadium and the surface has previously riled visiting English teams, with former United manager Jose Mourinho raising concerns over the increased risk of injuries and Reds defender Luke Shaw blasting the surface as "dangerous". City have changed their usual Champions League routine to accommodate the surface, training in Bern on Tuesday night rather than in Manchester.

City made clear that they would rather not be playing on the surface, with Guardiola pointedly saying that UEFA have allowed the situation. "Grass is better. 99 per cent of the teams play on grass, otherwise UEFA and FIFA would decide to play on artificial grass. It's common sense," he said.

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"It is what it is. UEFA allow games to be played here.

"That's one of the reasons we never train away but we travel in the morning to feel the players, how the ball runs, left, right, backwards, forwards. We try it and the players will know it immediately."

Swiss defender Manuel Akanji also admitted that he was not looking forward to the change. "It’s not the same," he said. "We’re not used to artificial. We go training here today and we’ll see how it feels. It’s not my favourite but we’ll see how it goes."

City's clash with Young Boys kicks off at 8pm on Wednesday evening.