Arsenal opponents Sevilla 'stole' flight ahead of Champions League clash, with passengers left stranded

Arsenal's upcoming Champions League opponents Sevilla have been involved in one of the most bizarre stories this week.

The Europa League winners travel to the Emirates on Tuesday, having been beaten 2-1 by the Gunners in the first meeting in Andalusia last month.

Sevilla are still searching for their first win in this season's Champions League, with two points from their opening three fixtures.

But Diego Alonso's side have hit headlines prior to the clash after 'stealing' a flight over the weekend.

Sevilla drew 1-1 with Rafa Benitez's Celta Vigo on Saturday and were scheduled to fly home back to the north of the Spain on a chartered flight that evening.

However, as per The Telegraph, their aircraft broke down due to a technical fault.

The alternative decided by Air Nostrum was to put all Sevilla players and staff - of which there were 56 in total, on a commercial flight.

Image: Getty

They then boarded the plane, bypassing paying customers who were members of the general public.

The 80 people had all paid for their tickets but were told their flight had been cancelled.

They were therefore left stranded at Peinador Airport and encouraged to fill out a complaint form, without a new set of travel arrangements put in place.

Air Nostrum have since issued a statement apologising and stressing that they will compensate those affected.

Image: Getty

"Air Nostrum deeply regrets the disadvantage suffered by the passengers on flight IB8869 from Vigo to Madrid, which is solely due to an unfortunate error on the part of the airline," they wrote.

"In the coming week we will contact all passengers to compensate them for the inconvenience caused."

FACUA, the Consumer Association in Andalucia, are now dealing with the matter and have reported Air Nostrum to the Galician Institute of Consumer Affairs and Competition plus the Ministry of Consumer Affairs.

Here's hoping their chartered flight to London went a lot smoother