Monaco players forced to strip down to underwear after plane fails to take off

Monaco players were forced to strip down to their underwear as their plane to Bruges for their Champions League opener failed to take off.

The Ligue 1 side face Club Brugge today (Thursday, September 18) in their first league phase game of Europe’s elite club football competition.

Monaco’s trip to Belgium turned into an nightmare on Wednesday when theplane’s air-con failed, with the temperature then hitting unbearable levels.

The team’s players were left drenched in sweat and were seen desperately fanning themselves with the in-flight magazines on the plane.

A few Monaco players took out their mobile phones and started recording the bizarre situation, which have since gone viral on social media.

Monaco head coach Adi Hutter says safety concerns made it impossible for the team to continue the journey – as they were eventually allowed to step off the plane and rearrange their travel plans for the following day.

‘For technical reasons, it was impossible to travel, as everyone’s safety was not guaranteed,’ Hutter said, with the plane pretty much becoming a sauna.

Monaco players stripped down to their underwear (Picture: Jordan Teze/Snapchat)

‘That’s why we decided, in agreement with (Monaco CEO) Thiago Scuro, to postpone our trip.’

Monaco defender Jordan Teze was one of the players who captured the chaotic scenes on his phone – sharing footage of his half-naked team-mates on social media.

The team’s players were seen evacuating off the aircraft at the runway still in their underwear.

Hutter believes the travel setback won’t have too much of an impact for Monaco’s Champions League clash with Club Brugge at the Jan Breydel Stadium, despite his players being forced to fly on the day of the game.

The Monaco boss pointed out that when his team beat Auxerre 2-1 on Saturday, they made the long trip across France on the day of the match.

Monaco players were eventually allowed off the plane (Picture: Jordan Teze/Snapchat)

‘We are professional and immediately changed our schedule,’ Hutter added.

‘We will travel to Bruges [on Thursday], which is the best possible solution, especially since we already did so for the match in Auxerre on Saturday by traveling the same day.’

Ex-Manchester United star Paul Pogba is among the players in Monaco’s Champions League squad but he is yet to play his first game for the club.

His comeback has been stalled by the need to build up his fitness after so long away from competitive football because of a doping ban.

English star Eric Dier, former Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun and ex-Liverpool attacking midfielder Takumi Minamino all play for Monaco too.

Monaco qualified for the 2025-26 Champions League after a third-placed finish in Ligue 1 last season.

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