Fenerbahce: Bird hits plane on way to Manchester for Europa League tie

Fenerbahce
The damaged windscreen which forced the plane to land in Budapest

Fenerbahce's team plane was forced to make an emergency landing after it was hit by a bird on its way to the UK for Thursday's Europa League game against Manchester United.

The private chartered aircraft was travellingexternal-link from Istanbul in Turkey when it was diverted to Budapest, Hungary.

A second plane was sent from Istanbul to pick the team up from Budapest and take them to Manchester.

The Turkish side play United at Old Trafford at 20:05 BST.

Roman Neustädter tweet
Fenerbahce defender Roman Neustadter joked about the incident on Twitter

The club said on Twitter there was "nothing alarming" after the incident.

United tweeted in reply: "Wishing you a safe trip for the rest of your journey to Manchester. See you soon!"

Fenerbahce, who are ninth in Turkey's Super Lig, are top of Group A of the Europa League, a point ahead of third-placed United.

Fenerbahce's team includes former United striker Robin van Persie and ex-Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel.

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