Bayer Leverkusen coach Kasper Hjulmand is pictured before the during the German Bundesliga soccer match between VfL Wolfsburg and Bayer Leverkusen at the Volkswagen Arena. Swen Pförtner/dpaDPAMon, November 24, 2025 at 7:20 PM UTC·1 min readA problem with luggage delayed the departure of Bundesliga football club Bayer Leverkusen for their Champions League away game at Manchester City.
The plane with the team on board was already at the end of the runway waiting for take-off when it had to return to the departure gate.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAccording to an announcement on the plane, the reason for this was uncertainty as to whether all the luggage was on board, as there were discrepancies with the weight of the aircraft.
When the problem was resolved and the aircraft was ready for take-off, there was then no aircraft tractor available to push the aircraft back from its parking position.
Instead of taking off at around 4 pm (1500 GMT) on Monday as planned, the Bayer Leverkusen plane finally took off for England more than an hour and a half late.
As a result, the schedule for the press conference with coach Kasper Hjulmand and player Aleix García, planned for 6 pm (1800 GMT) in Manchester, could no longer be kept.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOn Tuesday evening, Leverkusen is scheduled to play their fifth match of the league phase at the City of Manchester Stadium against star coach Pep Guardiola's team, which is still undefeated in the Champions League.
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