NYON: Atletico Madrid will play Chelsea in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie in Bucharest due to Covid-19 travel restrictions in Spain that prevent the English side from entering the country, UEFA said on Wednesday.
The match will kick off at the National Arena in the Romanian capital at the scheduled time of 2000 GMT on February 23.
The game, which was due to be held at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium, was moved because of Spain’s ban on arrivals from Britain, with the exception of passengers who are residents or citizens of Spain or Andorra.
The travel ban was extended on Tuesday until March 2.
“UEFA is able to officially confirm that the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 first leg match between Club Atletico de Madrid and Chelsea FC will now be played at the Arena Nationala in Bucharest,” European soccer’s governing body said in a statement.
“UEFA would like to express its gratitude to Club Atletico de Madrid and Chelsea FC for their support and close cooperation, as well as the Romanian Football Federation for their assistance and agreeing to stage the match.”
Chelsea said they will host the second leg at Stamford Bridge on March 17.
It is the latest European match to be switched to a different venue as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Four Premier League teams have already seen the venues switched for their next games in Europe because of concerns about an aggressively transmissible Covid-19 variant spreading in England.
In changes previously announced, Manchester City’s first leg of their Champions League tie against Borussia Moenchengladbach will be played in Budapest while Liverpool’s match against RB Leipzig has also been relocated to the Hungarian capital.
The Champions League, Europe’s top club competition, was heavily disrupted by the pandemic last season.
It was placed on hold when sport across Europe was halted in March.
UEFA then took the decision to complete the competition as a “Final Eight” tournament in Lisbon in August, without spectators. Bayern Munich beat Paris St Germain 1-0 in the final.
There have also been changes in this season’s Europa League as a result of virus rules.
Arsenal and Manchester United have had the first legs of their last-32 matches moved.
United’s game at Real Sociedad on February 18was on Tuesday moved from San Sebastian to the home stadium of Juventus in Turin, while Arsenal’s visit to Lisbon to play Benfica on the same date has been moved to Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2021
