The two UEFA Champions League matches which were scheduled to hold in Germany on 16 and 24 February, have been moved to Budapest, Hungary.
One of the matches is between Premier League side Manchester City and German Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach. While the other match is between Premier League side Liverpool football club and German side RB Leipzig.
Initially, Liverpool was scheduled to travel to Germany to play the first leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 against RB Leipzig on 16 February 2021 but the German government banned visitors from the United Kingdom due to the new variant of the Coronavirus inflicting the UK.
RB Leipzig wrote to the German government to exempt the UEFA Champions League match from the coronavirus restriction but the government announced that the event did not meet the requirement for exemption.
Hence, RB Leipzig had to work with the governing body of European football, UEFA, to get a neutral venue for the first leg of the knockout stage of the competition.
Within days after the German government turned Leipzig down, UEFA announced that the Hungarian football association has given the go-ahead for the UEFA Champions League match to take place in Budapest.
Though the venue of the match between Liverpool and RB Leipzig has changed, the time and date remain the same. The UEFA Champions League match will kick off at 20:00 GMT on 16 February 2021 at Budapest’s Puskas Arena.
Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium will host the return leg on March 10, 2021, as planned
“UEFA would like to thank RB Leipzig and Liverpool FC for their close cooperation and assistance in finding a solution to the issue at hand, as well as the Hungarian Football Federation for their support and agreeing to host the match in question”, the football governing body said in a statement issued on Monday.
On the other hand, Manchester City will play Borussia Monchengladbach at Budapest’s Puskas Arena instead of Germany contrary to the initial plan. However, the date and time for the UEFA Champions League round of 16 match remain the same. The match will kick-off at 21:00 CET on 24 February 2021.
Afterward, Borussia Monchengladbach will travel to England to play the return leg against Manchester City at Etihad Stadium on 16 March.
UEFA can confirm that the #UCL round of 16 first leg between Leipzig and Liverpool will now take place at Puskás Aréna in Budapest on 16 February.
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) February 7, 2021
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