Coronavirus: Champions League and Europa League matches postponed, Uefa confirms

Manchester City and Chelsea will not play their Champions League last-16 second legs next week while the Europa League has also been postponed

All remaining Champions League and Europa League games scheduled for next week have been postponed over coronavirus, Uefa has confirmed.

Both Manchester City’s clash with Real Madrid and Juventus’s trip to Lyon – both Champions League last-16 second legs – had already been postponed, while Chelsea’s visit to Bayern Munich was set to be played behind closed doors. The final quarter-final between Barcelona and Napoli also looked in doubt due to the scale of the coronavirus outbreak in Italy.

On top of that, the eight Europa League last-16 ties have also been called off, meaning Manchester United, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Rangers will not play their respective games against LASK, Olympiacos and Bayer Leverkusen.

With the decision encapsulating all Uefa-sanctioned games, the Uefa Youth League games will also be postponed, as well as the quarter-final draw scheduled for Friday 20 March.

A Uefa statement read: “In the light of developments due to the spread of COVID-19 in Europe and related decisions made by different governments, all Uefa club competitions matches scheduled next week are postponed.

“This includes the remaining Uefa Champions League, Round of 16 second leg matches scheduled on 17 and 18 March 2020; all Uefa Europa League, Round of 16 second leg matches scheduled on 19 March 2020; all Uefa Youth League, quarter-final matches scheduled on 17 and 18 March 2020.

“Further decisions on when these matches take place will be communicated in due course.

“As a consequence of the postponements, the Uefa Champions League and Uefa Europa League quarter-final draws scheduled for 20 March have also been postponed.”

A videoconference is due to take place on Tuesday next week with all associations who fall under Uefa’s remit, with talks over the remainder of the European season as well as the potential postponement of Euro 2020 to take place.

“Uefa yesterday invited representatives of its 55 member associations, together with the boards of the European Club Association and the European Leagues and a representative of FifPro, to a videoconference meeting on Tuesday 17 March to discuss European football’s response to the outbreak,” the statement added.