- UEFA announced on Thursday the postponement of the Champions League 8th return leg between Juventus and OL, scheduled for Tuesday 17 March in Turin, due to the coronavirus.
- Juve defender Daniele Rugani's positive Covid-19 test and the Turin squad's placement in quarantine seriously complicated the match next Tuesday.
- No new date has been formalized by UEFA, which is expected to announce at a meeting next Tuesday the suspension of the two European cups.
The decision seemed inevitable since the announcement, Wednesday evening, of the positive test in Covid-19 of the defender of the Juve Daniele Rugani, implying a quarantine of 14 days for the totality of the bianconero workforce. UEFA formalized this Thursday afternoon the postponement of the Champions League 8th return leg between Juventus and OL, scheduled next Tuesday at Juventus Stadium in Turin, as well as that of the clash between Manchester City and Real Madrid, scheduled for the same day.
Following the quarantine imposed on players of Juventus and Real Madrid, the following #UCL matches will not take place as scheduled.
🏴 Manchester City - Real Madrid 🇪🇸
🇮🇹 Juventus - Olympique Lyonnais 🇫🇷
Further decisions on the matches will be communicated in due course.
"Following the quarantine imposed on Juventus and Real Madrid players, the Champions League matches will not take place as planned," UEFA said in a statement. The great manitou of European football adds that "the body will hold next Tuesday a meeting with the European federations to discuss the consequences of the spread of the coronavirus on football and decide on the continuation of continental competitions".
UEFA to announce Champions League suspension
No new date is therefore announced for the moment, the fate of the match depending on a broader decision as to the future of the Champions League 2019-2020. According to L'Equipe, UEFA should announce at this meeting the temporary suspension of the Champions League and the Europa League as well as the postponement of the Euro in 2021, in order to free up the timetable for a possible resumption of the two European cups.
🚨 UEFA has planned to announce the suspension of this edition of the Champions League due to the coronavirus epidemic!
Certainly the PSG has really bad luck PS #PSGBVB pic.twitter.com/rmLABve4LG
For OL, this postponement temporarily closes a week of imbroglio and announcements and rumors of all kinds. The track of a closed-door match was first mentioned, following the explosion of the coronavirus epidemic in Italy. It did not seem to be called into question by the last decree signed by the Italian Prime Minister, which entered into force on Tuesday, which suspends Serie A until April 3 but authorizes European matches behind closed doors.
The closed door track took lead in the help with the positive test of Rugani
But everything was turned upside down Wednesday evening and the hypothesis of the closed door took hold in the wing with the positive test of Daniele Rugani. All Turin players are in fact placed in quarantine, like Cristiano Ronaldo, who left at the bedside of his mother, victim of a stroke, in Madeira and confined de facto on his native island. Therefore, impossible for the Juventini to hope to tread the lawn of the Juventus Stadium in five days.
Avrete letto la notizia e per questo ci tengo a tranquillizzare tutti coloro che si stanno preoccupando per me, sto bene.
Invito tutti a rispettare le regole, perché questo virus non fa distinzioni! Facciamolo per noi stessi, per i nostri cari e per chi ci circonda. # Grazie pic.twitter.com/1QqewIKjie
What will be the impact on Lyon players? Hard to say, said former OL winger Sidney Govou. "This is the first time this has happened, I have never seen a case like this in my career," he recalls. The players are like everyone else, they are waiting for announcements from the state. We cannot anticipate so they will have to adapt. For now, we can't see any further anyway. "
OL 'take note' of UEFA decision
In a brief statement released on Thursday evening, OL said it "took note of UEFA's decision to postpone the return leg of the Juventus-OL Champions League round of 16 to a later date, which was to be played this Tuesday March 17 at the Allianz Stadium in Turin. This decision is justified by the quarantine imposed on the players of the entire membership of the Turin club, "concludes the club.
Postponement of the Juventus / OL match https://t.co/vROPHUycZ1
- Olympique Lyonnais (@OL) March 12, 2020In the meantime, the Gones will welcome the Stade de Reims this Friday evening, at Parc OL, for what should have been their last full-scale test before going to defend in Turin the dearly won advantage to go (1-0) . A match scheduled at 8.45pm, behind closed doors. But we are not yet immune from yet another turnaround.
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- Uefa
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- Lyon
- Turin juventus
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