Man City team land safely after Storm Dudley winds force Liverpool diversion

The plane carrying Manchester City 's players and staff has landed safely after Storm Dudley forced it into a change of destination.

City travelled home from Portugal on Wednesday after a breathtaking 5-0 thrashing of Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League the previous night.

Their flight was due to arrive in Manchester but high winds forced it to land in Liverpool.

A statement released on City's official Twitter account on Wednesday evening reads: "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."

As shown by tracking website Flightradar24, the plane circled a number of times before changing its course to Liverpool, which is roughly 30 miles away from the original destination.

City boss Pep Guardiola will hope the disruption does not negatively impact his side's preparations ahead of Saturday evening's Premier League clash with Tottenham.

The defending champions have a nine-point lead at the top of the table, although Liverpool have one game in hand and are in action against Norwich earlier on Saturday.

Adding to their commanding domestic position, City have been installed as the bookmakers' favourites to go all the way in the Champions League this season.

While the Sky Blues have never been crowned European champions, they sent a statement of intent with their drubbing of Sporting.

Riyad Mahrez opened the scoring with a tap-in just seven minutes into proceedings and Bernardo Silva doubled the lead with a brilliant half-volley.

Phil Foden finished from close range and Silva added his second with a deflected strike to give the visitors a commanding advantage at half-time.

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The Portuguese playmaker was denied his hat-trick by the offside flag and the final goal of the evening went to Raheem Sterling, who curled into the top corner with an exquisite effort in the 58th minute.

Despite his side winning 5-0, Guardiola insisted he could see areas for improvement while speaking after the match.

"Some players underperformed and we lost easy balls, but we were so clinical," the Spaniard said.

"There is one rule in football when you have the ball and that is not to lose it.

"We had some simple passes that we lost. Against the top sides in Europe we would be punished. The difference between the sides is not 5-0, but we were so clinical, we punished them.

"The players know me and the way we work that we can do better. I'm incredibly happy, please don't misunderstand me, but we can do better."