Following weeks of speculation, the venue for the first leg of Atletico Madrid’s Champions League match against Chelsea has been confirmed.
Romania’s national stadium in Bucharest will play host to the fixture – originally scheduled to be in Atleti’s Wanda Metropolitano stadium in the Spanish capital – due to the travel ban on UK arrivals into Spain.
Spain still holds a travel ban on arrivals from the UK and exceptions have not been granted for elite sports, which forced Los Rojiblancos to seek alternative arrangements.
Travellers from the UK, South Africa and Brazil are prohibited from entering Spain without a ten-day quarantine if they are not nationals, and exemption has not been granted for football games.
The Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, has confirmed that the measure that was originally imposed until 6:00pm on 16 February has now been extended until that same time on 2 March, as per Marca.
The confirmation of Bucharest follows rumours of other alternative venues for the match, with Diario AS reporting earlier this week after speculation that Budapest, in Hungary, could play host to the fixture.
Atleti’s return leg will still be played at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge in March while there will be no change in the away goals rules for the fixture.
English sides cannot enter other nations across Europe – including Portugal and Germany – leading to fixture chaos across Europe, with Manchester United’s trip to Real Sociedad switched to Turin in Italy.
