‘The pilot was magnificent’ - Guardiola reveals what happened when Manchester City plane landed in Liverpool

Pep Guardiola admitted he didn’t realise how serious Manchester City’s failed airplane landing was on Wednesday until he saw the video footage back.

The team had been returning from Lisbon following their Champions League victory over Sporting Lisbon, but were forced to land at Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport after their attempt to fly to Manchester was scuppered due to wind.

Footage subsequently emerged of the incident which saw the plane battling against the conditions, and was ultimately unsuccessful.

But asked about the failed landing in Friday’s press conference, Guardiola hailed the calmness of the pilot, and admitted the footage looked scarier than he and the team had felt at the time.

“To be honest, when I saw the video after, I said it was more scary than we felt,” he told reporters ahead of City’s Premier League clash with Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.

“It was bumpy a lot, but like many times. It was a moment we were going down and immediately the engine started to roll on and we go up. In the moment we say ‘oh, something happened’.

“But we had a pilot who did incredibly well to talk to us, was so calm. He said ‘It was windy so we are going to try again to land in Manchester’.

“After five minutes then landed in Liverpool. The pilot was magnificent because we felt a little bit anxious but thanks to the way he talked to us, everyone was calm.”

Asked for more details on the failed landing at Manchester, he said: “It was one [attempt], then he had to make a turn and we didn’t even try to go down to land, and then we went to Liverpool.”