FC Basle’s preparations for their last-16 Europa League second-leg tie against Zenit St Petersburg were disrupted when illness to midfielder Mohamed Elneny forced an unscheduled stopover in Germany.

The 20-year-old Egyptian complained of feeling unwell on the flight to Russia and the squad were re-routed to Berlin to enable him to receive medical attention.

An ambulance drove onto the airport apron and Elneny was assessed by another doctor before the flight resumed – after a 50-minute break – with the player declared fit enough to continue the journey.

“We had to stop the flight because Elmany was a little bit sick,” FC Basle’s head of media Josef Zindel said.

“He (Elneny) had not enough fluid and low blood sugar but he is okay now and he will train and he can play.”