Manchester City vs Gladbach: Watch the storm that cancelled Tuesday's Champions League clash at the Etihad

The game has been rescheduled for 7.45pm on Wednesday

Pep Guardiola’s first foray into the Champions League as Manchester City manager needed to be delayed by 24 hours after the heavens opened in Manchester.

Despite it being the hottest day in the month of September for a century, the game was postponed after an hour of torrential rain and lightning in around the Etihad.

Even though the 1,500 Borussia Monchengladbach fans were already in attendance, City announced 20 minutes before the 7.45pm kick-off time that the game would not go ahead.

The game was rescheduled for Wednesday night at 7.45pm, much to the frustration of the German club, who were pushing for the match to be replayed in the afternoon or early evening to enable fans and supporters to get home.

However, the lack of an adequate number of stewards and further torrential rain predicted from 4pm until 7pm in the north-west mean that Uefa were forced to have the game clash with Wednesday night’s other Champions League ties.

The decision to cancel the game was that of referee Bjorn Kuipers and some Uefa officials after they headed out onto the pitch for an inspection and tried to bounce a ball, only for it to remain stuck to the surface.

It was not just the surface of the pitch which was a concern, with travel disrupted and walkways around the stadium flooded, which would have put the safety of fans at risk.

City said in a statement: “Torrential rainfall across Manchester throughout the evening led to flooding in the areas around the ground, which forced the decision on safety and security grounds.”