COVID-19 chaos continues as Man Utd tie moved

Manchester United’s first-leg round-of-32 Europa League match against Real Sociedad has been switched to Juventus’ Allianz Arena due to the ongoing troubles caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The United Kingdom has strict quarantine rules amid the pandemic for international travel, while Spain has also barred arrivals from the UK, and UEFA announced a change of venue on Tuesday. The date of the match is unchanged from Feb. 18, while the second leg on Feb. 25 is still scheduled to be at Old Trafford.

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A statement said: “UEFA can confirm that the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 first leg match between Real Sociedad and Manchester United FC will now take place at the Juventus Stadium in Turin.

“The date of the match (18 February 2021) and kick-off time (18:55 CET) will remain the same. UEFA would like to thank Real Sociedad and Manchester United FC for their close cooperation and assistance in finding a solution to the issue at hand, as well as the Italian Football Federation and Juventus for their support and agreeing to host the match in question.”

The game was moved due to Spain’s ban on arrivals from Britain, with the exception of passengers who are residents or citizens of Spain or Andorra.

The ban was extended on Tuesday until March 2, jeopardising Atletico Madrid’s Champions League round-of-16 first leg at home to Chelsea, which was due to take place at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium on Feb. 23 but can no longer be held in Spain.

Atletico Madrid did not wish to comment on how the ban affected the match, while Spanish newspaper Marca said the game could be moved to Bucharest, more than 3,000 kilometres from Madrid.

The fixture cannot take place in France, Germany, Belgium or Portugal as those countries are also restricting travel to and from Britain.

In the Champions League, Manchester City’s first leg round-of-16 tie against Borussia Monchengladbach has been moved from Germany to Budapest due to COVID-19 protocols, UEFA have announced. The date of the match will remain the same with Pep Guardiola’s side set to meet the Bundesliga club on Feb. 24.

The announcement comes after Liverpool’s Champions League tie against RB Leipzig next week was moved on Sunday from Germany to neutral Budapest.

Information from Reuters was used in this report.