Barcelona fail to land as scheduled after flight to SA is delayed

The highly anticipated arrival of Spanish giants FC Barcelona has been delayed by about two hours and they are only expected to touch down at OR Tambo International Airport after 8am.

The Catalans‚ who take on Mamelodi Sundowns in the Nelson Mandela Centenary Cup at FNB Stadium on Wednesday (6pm)‚ were expected to land in Johannesburg at 6am but their flight from Barcelona was delayed.

The fans had not arrived in numbers around 6am but there was a visible heavy security presence around the airport and media at the arrivals terminal.

The recently crowned La Liga champions confirmed on Tuesday night that they were bringing stars such as Lionel Messi‚ Gerard Piqué‚ Andres Iniesta‚ Luis Suárez‚ Jordi Alba‚ Philippe Coutinho‚ Ousmane Dembélé and goalkeeper Ter Stegen to FNB Stadium.