FRANKFURT, Germany — Liverpool‘s preparations for their Champions League game against Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany have been disrupted by their flight being temporarily grounded at Liverpool John Lennon Airport due to a “technical issue.”
Arne Slot’s team, who face Frankfurt on Wednesday attempting to avoid the ignominy of suffering a fifth successive defeat for the first time since September 1953, were due to fly from Liverpool on a chartered flight after training at 4 p.m. BST.
But after a lengthy delay, Liverpool confirmed that Slot’s pre-match news conference at Deutsche Bank Park, scheduled for 7.30 p.m. CET, had been cancelled less than an hour before it was due to commence because the team flight remained ground on the tarmac in Liverpool.
“Liverpool’s pre-match press conference for the Champions League clash with Eintracht Frankfurt has been cancelled,” a club statement said.
“Arne Slot and a member of his squad were set to speak to the media at Deutsche Bank Park upon arrival in Germany on Tuesday evening.
“However, a delay in the Reds squad’s scheduled flight out to Frankfurt, due to technical issues with the aircraft, means the briefing will now not be able to take place.”
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Sources told ESPN that Liverpool’s flight eventually took off at 7.51 p.m. BST — three hours and 51 minutes later than initially planned.
Slot has insisted that the delay will have no effect on Wednesday’s game.
“No, it will not impact the build-up to tomorrow’s game,” Slot told UEFA.com. “We have trained over here at the AXA; normally we would have gone to Frankfurt a few hours earlier, now we are a few hours later. That can never be an excuse for the game tomorrow.”
By failing to arrive in Germany by the evening before the match, Liverpool are technically in breach of Article 48 of UEFA’s rules which works to ensure clubs fulfil their media duties.
However, Arsenal avoided a fine last season when their flight to Lens was delayed for five hours by severe weather because it was deemed to be a situation beyond their control.
