The match between FC Barcelona and Napoli, corresponding to the return of the round of 16 of the Champions League and scheduled for August 8, will be played at the Camp Nou “as planned” despite the resurgence of coronavirus in the Barcelona and its metropolitan area, as confirmed by UEFA sources. Yesterday morning, the RAC1 station reported that UEFA had considered playing Barça-Napoli outside Barcelona, after having asked the Department of Health of the Generalitat about the situation of the pandemic in Catalonia following the protocol which has been established in other cities where Champions League matches are played. Instead, UEFA told Europa Press that it is “following the situation” and “in contact with the relevant local authorities”. In this sense, the Ministry of Health would have guaranteed the viability of the party’s dispute in the European body.
UEFA, as it has done with Manchester City, Juventus and Bayern Munich, the rest of the clubs playing eighth-round matches as locals next week, has requested a report on the actual epidemiological situation in the city. The Ministry of Health, once Barça forwarded the request received by UEFA, drafted a two-page report in which it is in favor of the event. From the Barça team it is understood that with the normal activity that exists in the city despite some regrowth of COVID-19, it should not pose any problem for the expedition of the Italian team to move to Catalan lands, play the party and come back.
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