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Liverpool’s Leipzig Champions League trip to be moved to Budapest – reports
BERLIN, Feb 5, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Talks are reportedly underway to hold
Liverpool’s Champions League last 16 first leg tie at RB Leipzig in Budapest
although the German club said no decision had yet been made.
The English club have been barred from entering Germany for the fixture on
February 16 because of entry rules imposed to combat the coronavirus
pandemic.
UEFA’s regulations say the home side must find a way of hosting the match
or risk forfeiting it as a 3-0 defeat.
Liverpool’s German manager Jurgen Klopp said he believed an exemption
should have been made for his side to travel.
All Premier League sides are being tested at least twice a week with UEFA
also undertaking a testing programme for teams in the Champions and Europa
League.
“It’s not our decision, nobody from Germany called me and asked me how is
the situation in England,” Klopp said at a press conference on Friday.
“With all the stuff we are doing here, the record we have with cases, the
discipline we show with all the stuff we do, I think it would be absolutely
reasonable to make an exception.”
British media report that Leipzig are in discussions to host the game at
the Puskas Arena in the Hungarian capital, among other options.
A spokesperson from the Hungarian Football Federation told AFP it would
accept a request if one was made.
“Everything is still possible but no decision has yet been made. We have
to verify certain points,” a Leipzig official told AFP on Friday.
Later, Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann said he remained confident the
encounter would go ahead.
“I go on the principle that the match won’t be cancelled. In any case,
we’ll prepare as well as possible to try and play well against Liverpool,” he
said.
The decision from the German authorities also places a question mark over
another Champions League last-16 match, as Borussia Moenchengladbach host
Manchester City on February 24.
BSS/AFP/BZC/2012HRS