Liverpool flight delay adds to troubled buildup to Eintracht Frankfurt trip

Liverpool’s problems have extended to preparations for their Champions League match at Eintracht Frankfurt after their flight to Germany was delayed by almost four hours because of technical difficulties with the plane. Arne Slot and his squad were scheduled to depart Liverpool John Lennon airport at 4pm on Tuesday having completed a pre‑match training session at the club’s base. Related: The Salah question and full-back dilemma: what must Slot do to rejuvenate Liverpool? However, the flight did not take off until 7.51pm after several delays and Liverpool’s players, who are seeking to avoid a fifth consecutive defeat on Wednesday, were left waiting in a private terminal at the airport throughout that time. The plane did at least depart in time to arrive before Frankfurt airport closed at 11pm German time (10pm BST). Liverpool’s 21-member travelling squad did not include Ryan Gravenberch because of the ankle injury he sustained in the defeat by Manchester United on Sunday. The lateness of their departure forced Liverpool had to cancel their pre-match press conference featuring Slot and Dominik Szoboszlai. A club statement released 40 minutes before the press conference was scheduled to start confirmed: “Our pre-match press conference for the clash with Eintracht Frankfurt has been cancelled. A delay in the 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.” Technically they were in breach of Uefa regulations by not hosting a press conference but the club are unlikely to be fined because the delay was beyond their control. Arsenal found themselves in a similar situation in October 2023 when their flight to Lens was delayed by nearly five hours because of adverse weather conditions. Arsenal were not fined on that occasion. Uefa rules state: “The clubs must arrange for their teams to arrive on-site by the evening before the match concerned at the latest, and in time to fulfil their media obligations the day before the match.” The disruption to Liverpool’s preparations is another headache for Slot as he aims to halt a damaging run of four consecutive defeats in all competitions. A fifth defeat in a row on Wednesday would be Liverpool’s worst run since they endured five defeats in succession in Division One in September 1953. However, the Liverpool head coach insisted: “No, it will not impact the buildup to tomorrow’s game. 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.”