February 10 – UEFA have been forced to move even more games to neutral ground as the chaos and confusion over Covid-related travel bans continue to take their toll, presenting a major head-ache to all concerned.
Because of Spain’s ban on arrivals from Britain, with the exception of passengers who are residents or citizens of Spain or Andorra, Atletico Madrid’s Champions League last-16 first leg at home to Chelsea on February 23 has had to be switched to Bucharest, more than 3,000 kilometres away. It could not be staged anywhere in the likes of France, Germany, Belgium or Portugal as all those countries also are restricting travel to and from Britain.
Manchester United’s Europa League last-32 first leg game at Real Sociedad on February 18 has also been moved from Spain, this time to Turin in Italy, as a result of Spain’s efforts to fight the spread of Covid-19 variants.
Both legs of Arsenal’s Europa League last-32 tie against Benfica have also had to been moved to neutral venues.
The first leg, which was due to be played at the Estadio Da Luz on February 18, has gone to Rome, with Arsenal confirming that the second leg would be played in Athens on February 25 instead of north London.
Liverpool and Manchester City are already headed to Budapest, Hungary, for Champions League matches against Leipzig and Borussia Mönchengladbach, respectively, in the next two weeks and it is unclear if English teams will be able to host the second-leg games.
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