Champions League and Europa League suspended

UEFA has taken the unprecedented step of suspending the Champions League and Europa League following the coronavirus outbreak.

Barcelona against Napoli and Bayern Munich’s clash with Chelsea were due to take place next week, but UEFA has now postponed competition. Manchester City vs. Real Madrid and Juventus’ match with Lyon were already postponed before Friday’s announcement.

Manchester United’s second leg Europa League tie with LASK, due to be played on Thursday, also has been postponed, along with all other fixtures in the competition.

UEFA said in a statement: “In the light of developments due to the spread of COVID-19 in Europe and related decisions made by different governments, all UEFA club competitions matches scheduled next week are postponed.

“This includes the remaining UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg matches scheduled on March 17 and 18, 2020; all UEFA Europa League round of 16 second leg matches scheduled on 19 March 2020; all UEFA Youth League, quarterfinal matches scheduled on March 17 and 18, 2020.

“Further decisions on when these matches take place will be communicated in due course.”

UEFA will discuss the postponement of Euro 2020 during an emergency video conference involving all 55 European football associations on Tuesday.

Football matches across Europe have been severely affected, with La Liga suspending competition for two matchdays, Serie A suspended until April 3 and various postponements and matches played behind closed doors across European competitions before the postponement was put in place.

In the Champions League, Borussia Dortmund’s match at Paris Saint-Germain took place behind closed doors on Wednesday, although many PSG fans congregated outside the Parc des Princes for the round-of-16 tie that the Ligue 1 side won 3-2 on aggregate.

In the Europa League, Sevilla vs. Roma and Inter Milan vs. Getafe were initially postponed amid the outbreak, while Manchester United’s first-leg tie against LASK took place behind closed doors on Thursday before the move came to suspend competition completely.

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