Bayer Leverkusen take on Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday evening. Shortly before departure for England, the German team's plane has to turn back. And the breakdowns continue afterwards.
25.11.2025, 10:30
25.11.2025, 11:23
dpa
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Bayer Leverkusen's journey to the Champions League match against Manchester City was considerably delayed by several mishaps.
- Problems with luggage, a lack of ground staff and long waiting times after landing led to a delay of almost two hours.
- Despite the turbulent journey, coach Kasper Hjulmand and Aleix García emphasized that preparation for the game was not affected.
Several mishaps have slowed down Bayer Leverkusen on their journey to the Champions League away game at Manchester City (21:00 live on blue Sport). First of all, a luggage problem caused delays. When the plane with the team on board was already on the tarmac, it had to return to the gate. The reason for this, according to the announcement on the plane: there was uncertainty as to whether all the luggage was on board, as there were discrepancies with the weight of the aircraft.
Once the problem had been resolved and the aircraft was ready for take-off, there was initially no aircraft tug to push the aircraft back from its parking position. Instead of taking off at around 4 p.m. as planned, the Bayer plane finally took off for England almost an hour and a half late.
Problems even after landing
But there were also problems after landing in Manchester. Almost an hour passed before the first passengers were able to leave the plane. As the plane was parked at an outside position, it was first necessary to wait for buses.
In the end, the passengers walked to the terminal just a few meters away. The Bayer U19s were also on board, as they were already playing against City's youngsters in the UEFA Youth League on Tuesday afternoon.
This meant that it was no longer possible to keep to the schedule with the press conference with coach Kasper Hjulmand and player Aleix García scheduled for 18:00 local time in Manchester. On Tuesday evening, the Werkself will play against Pep Guardiola's team, who are still unbeaten in the Premier League, on matchday five of the league phase.
Did the exertions have an impact on the game?
"It was unusual, but these things happen," said Hjulmand at the press conference, which started two hours late. However, the Dane emphasized that it would not affect the game. "We'll be ready to play at kick-off."
Garcia explained: "It was strange. I didn't know exactly what was going on. The worst thing was the hour wait. It was a long journey today."