Manchester City players get mid-air fright as plane gets rocked by bad weather

The thrills did not end on the pitch for Manchester City, who completed an emphatic 5-0 victory over sporting CP in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League latst-16 clash on Tuesday. As it turns out, the reigning Premier League champions experienced quite a fright while on their flight back to Manchester from Lisbon.

The entire squad along with members of the coaching staff were on their way back home to England from Portugal when their private jet was reportedly hit by massive turbulence brought by Storm Dudley. Photos obtained by The Sun shows the jet as it was attempting to land on Manchester airport.

The strong winds apparently made it difficult to land and the plane had to circle back three times before it was finally diverted to Liverpool. The conditions in Manchester were too dangerous, and air traffic controllers decided to make the call to abort the landing. To the relief of those on board, they were finally able to return to solid ground albeit several miles away from Manchester.

The club itself had to release a statement to ease the worries of fans who heard about the incident.
"We can confirm the plane transporting the first team home from Lisbon has landed safely in Liverpool, after high winds forced a diversion from Manchester," read the statement shared on Twitter.

At the time of the club's arrival, Storm Dudley had forced the Met Office to issue yellow and amber warnings due to the dangerous conditions brought by 47mph winds in the area. Apart from air travel, land travel was also affected due to flooding.

After their safe return, Pep Guardiola's side were finally able to celebrate their victory, which leaves sporting with a steep mountain to climb for the second leg. As it stands, City are confident that they have one foot in the quarter-finals.