{"id":583162,"date":"2021-02-09T15:56:54","date_gmt":"2021-02-09T20:56:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=583162"},"modified":"2021-02-09T15:56:54","modified_gmt":"2021-02-09T20:56:54","slug":"atletico-madrid-cannot-host-chelsea-in-champions-league-clash-spanish-government-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/02\/09\/atletico-madrid-cannot-host-chelsea-in-champions-league-clash-spanish-government-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Atletico Madrid Cannot Host Chelsea in Champions League Clash, Spanish Government Says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Atletico Madrid<\/a> cannot host Chelsea<\/a> in Spain for the first leg of their round-of-16 Champions League<\/a> match, AS reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to the Spanish sports daily, the government\u2019s Council of Ministers has extended a COVID-19-related ban on flights from the UK until March 2. Under the current rules, only flights for Spanish and Andorran citizens and residents may land in the country.<\/p>\n

The announcement comes as Manchester United\u2019s Europa League<\/a> round-of-32 match against Spanish side Real Sociedad was moved to Turin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Atletico Madrid Cannot Host Chelsea in Champions League Clash<\/h2>\n

Simeone Dreams of Returning to Romania<\/h3>\n

Both Bucharest and Geneva have been suggested as alternative sites for the February 23 clash.<\/p>\n

After a meeting between officials from UEFA and Atl\u00e9ti concluded on Monday, club skipper Diego Simeone said that he would rather play in Bucharest\u2019s Arena Na\u021bional\u0103, where he has fond memories from the 2012 Europa League final.<\/p>\n

Los Rojiblancos defeated Spanish rivals Athletic Bilboa 3-0 on a cloudy evening at the Romanian national stadium and earned Simeone his first piece of European silverware.<\/p>\n

Atl\u00e9tico Madrid have also reportedly asked<\/a> UEFA to reschedule the second leg of the fixture, which is set to be played on March 17 at Stamford Bridge, for a neutral venue as well.<\/p>\n

Chelsea Seek Redemption in Round of 16<\/h3>\n

Chelsea are yet to comment on the news, but officials at the club have acknowledged that beating Atl\u00e9ti will be a real challenge regardless of where the match is played.<\/p>\n

“Atl\u00e9tico are always difficult opponents; in this season’s Liga, they have been performing really well and consistently,\u201d said Petr \u010cech<\/a>, the club\u2019s technical and performance adviser. \u201cThey have a coach who plays his own way, the players buy into it and they work hard as a team.”<\/p>\n

While Atl\u00e9tico Madrid sit eight points clear of rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid at the top of the table<\/a> in La Liga, they have been far less dominant in Europe. In Group A, the Spanish side were far from convincing, picking up just eight points and conceding one more goal than they scored.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Chelsea cruised through their group, taking 14 of 18 points, including a 4-0 thumping of Sevilla in southern Spain.<\/p>\n

Since Thomas Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard<\/a> on January 25, Chelsea have seen their league form dramatically improve too. The Blues have taken 10 of 12 points and kept three clean sheets.<\/p>\n

Tuchel and his men will be hoping to end a four-year losing streak at this stage of the competition and bury the memories of last year\u2019s embarrassing 7-1 thrashing<\/a> at the hands of eventual-champions Bayern Munich.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Main Photo<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>