Profit and goodwill

The visits - Singapore, Japan, South Korea and Australia were also on some itineraries - are ultimately about creating profit and goodwill, but not every trip has ended well.

According to South Korean media, demands from Juventus to have a police escort - normally reserved for visiting heads of state - were refused.

Juventus arrived at the stadium for an exhibition match in Seoul 15 minutes after the scheduled kickoff, delaying the game by an hour after the team's flight arrived late.

The Italian champion then riled fans by keeping star attraction Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench. More than 2,000 South Koreans have teamed up to sue the sports agency involved.

There is little teams can do about temperatures touching 40 degrees Celsius (104 F), heavy rain, jet lag, traffic and flight delays.

Bad weather saw PSG stuck in Suzhou on Wednesday morning, while City's flight to China was delayed by two days because of a paperwork problem.

When the plane finally touched down, Guardiola hardly looked delighted.

"It's survival," he grimaced.

Agence France - Presse