Rome (AFP)

Before Paris SG-Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday, the first 8th final of the Champions League return will be held behind closed doors on Tuesday in Valencia, which hosts the Atalanta Bergamo (8:00 p.m. GMT) under conditions of heightened caution, due to the coronavirus epidemic.

The announcement of the closed session at the Mestalla stadium dates from a week ago: Bergamo and Lombardy were already hard hit by the coronavirus, but the region was not yet subject to the draconian measures taken Sunday by the Italian government.

While entry and exit from this region of northern Italy are now tightly restricted, Atalanta was still able to leave on Monday morning by plane for Spain, with a small delegation.

On arrival in Valencia, the Argentine captain of the club Alejandro "Papu" Gomez was assaulted by several journalists, who tried to interview him despite the precautionary statements.

"You can't do an interview now. But what are you doing?" Said the striker, before speeding up and calling the journalists "clowns."

UEFA meanwhile said that there would be no media activity around the match, neither on Monday nor Tuesday after the match.

The day before training sessions are also closed to the press, which traditionally has the right to be present for the first 15 minutes, and only journalists from television stations holding broadcasting rights will be allowed at the stadium.

While Atalanta has only played once since the first leg (7-2 victory in Lecce), Gian Piero Gasperini's players have trained at the Bortolotti sports center in Zingonia, also in special conditions.

Only team A and the Primavera (under 23) were able to work on site and all the offices were closed. No marketing or media activity has taken place at the training center in recent weeks.

- The wrath of the captain of Valence -

The Italian club also announced that the approximately 2,300 tifosi who had taken a ticket for the match would be reimbursed.

"We keep smiling but of course there is disappointment with this forced absence from the most important match in our history", testified Marino Lazzarini, president of the club "Les amis de l'Atalanta" in the Gazzetta dello Sport.

In Spain, however, the affair does not smile at all. "Valencia-Atalanta: the opponent is the coronavirus", headlined Marca, the country's main sports daily.

And while his team is in bad shape after the 4-1 defeat of the first leg, captain Dani Parejo for his part posted a long message tinged with anger and misunderstanding on Sunday on Instagram.

"I would have liked all this to be just a bad dream. But it is not the case. And that is also why I am the first to be outraged when I see that the measures adopted have no coherence "wrote Parejo.

"I am not an expert, far from it, but by common sense, I do not understand how you can walk in Valencia with thousands of people on the street to celebrate the Fallas (popular festival very famous in Valencia), how I can pick up a loved one at the airport where hundreds of flights arrive every day from around the world, how I can see on TV dozens of sporting or cultural events that bring together thousands of people ... but we , Valencia FC, on the other hand, we will not be able to play the most important match of our season in front of our supporters. It does not make sense, "deplored the Spanish midfielder.

© 2020 AFP