Liverpool forward Mo Salah and his team-mates are in a Champions League pickle
Liverpool can’t travel to Germany for the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against RB Leipzig on 16th February.
Why not? Because Germany has banned incoming travellers from the United Kingdom – the UK is one of the countries impacted the most by new variants of coronavirus. A German interior ministry statement said Leipzig had been told the fixture “does not meet the requirements for an exception”.
RB Leipzig are reportedly in talks with other stadium owners about hosting the tie in time – the Bundesliga club has until 8th February to present a workable solution to UEFA.
#LFC in contact with UEFA over the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie being moved from Germany. Onus is on RB Leipzig to find a suitable new venue or they will forfeit the match.
— David Lynch (@dmlynch) February 4, 2021
According to new UEFA rules, if Covid-19 restrictions could result in a match not taking place, “the home club must propose a suitable alternative venue, which may be in a neutral country”.
If the host club fails to do that and it is not possible to play the game at another venue or on a different date, the match will be forfeited, with the home side losing 3-0.
Germany’s restrictions are in place until 17th February, so an option could be to reverse the tie so that Liverpool host the first leg at Anfield. The second leg is scheduled to take place on 10th March.