Soccer
Champions League Round of 16: Atletico Madrid vs. Chelsea first leg to be played in Bucharest
UEFA announced Wednesday that the upcoming Atletico Madrid vs. Chelsea Champions League round of 16 match has been moved to Bucharest.
The announcement comes on the heels of several other venue changes involving teams from the United Kingdom, as countries throughout Europe have enacted travel bans due to concerns about new COVID-19 variants. In this case, Spain's ban on travel from the UK has been extended to March 2, thus ruling out the possibility of Chelsea travelling to Madrid for the match.
"UEFA is able to officially confirm that the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg match between Club Atlético de Madrid and Chelsea FC will now be played at the Arena Naţională in Bucharest," a UEFA statement read. "The date of the match (23 February 2021) and the kick-off time (21:00 CET) will remain the same."
Other Champions League matches that have undergone venue changes are RB Leipzig vs. Liverpool, Borussia Moenchengladbach vs. Manchester City, as well as Europa League round of 32 fixtures Benfica vs. Arsenal, Real Sociedad vs. Manchester United and Molde vs. Hoffenheim.Â
