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Soham Mukherjee

Plane chaos for Monaco! Paul Pogba's team-mates strip to their underwear after air conditioning failure on flight to Bruges for Champions League opener

Monaco's Champions League journey began in chaos after their flight to Bruges descended into scenes straight out of a comedy sketch. With the air conditioning system completely out, Paul Pogba's teammates were forced to take off their clothes and sit in nothing but underwear as the cabin transformed into a sweltering sauna.

  • Flight turns into sauna from hell

    With the air-con out of action, the temperature hit unbearable levels, leaving the players drenched in sweat and fanning themselves desperately with in-flight magazines. A couple of them took out their mobile phones and started recording the bizarre scenes.

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  • Pogba back in Monaco but still grounded

    While his teammates roasted mid-air, Pogba was dealing with a different kind of waiting game. The French midfielder, who returned to Ligue 1 after inking a two-year deal with Monaco in the summer of 2025, is still searching for his first appearance in red and white. His comeback has been stalled by the need to rebuild sharpness after so long away from competitive football due to a doping ban.

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  • Monaco’s bold gamble in Europe

    Manager Adi Hutter isn’t shying away from risk, however. In a major show of faith, he has thrown both Pogba and fellow marquee signing Ansu Fati into Monaco’s Champions League squad, even though neither has kicked a ball for the club yet.

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    When can Pogba return to action?

    Pogba isn’t too far off. Training sessions suggest he is edging closer to match readiness, with whispers around the camp pointing to October as the month he could finally step back into competitive action. Monaco officials are quietly confident, and Pogba himself is said to be pushing hard behind the scenes to meet that target.