Another Champions League game moved to Puskás Aréna

On February 7 Premier League defending champions Liverpool also had their last-16 first-leg game against RB Leipzig moved to Budapest. Both games are victims of Germany’s closure to travellers from countries affected by new variants of Covid-19, including the UK.

RB Leipzig and Borussia Monchengladbach were told that the fixtures “did not meet the requirements for an exception”.

The Manchester City-Borussia Monchengladbach game will take place at the Puskás Árena on the same date that was originally scheduled, February 24. Likewise, the Liverpool-RB Leipzig game will take place in Budapest on the same original date, February 16. Both matches will be spectator-free because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Premier League leaders Manchester City will host the return leg against Borussia Monchengladbach at Etihad Stadium in Manchester on March 16. The Liverpool-RB Leipzig second leg will be played on March 10 at Liverpool’s Anfield stadium.

Manchester City and Liverpool met this previous Sunday at Anfield, with City winning 4-1 to extend their run of successive wins to 14, and they head the Premier League table after 22 rounds. Liverpool sit fourth. RB Leipzig is second behind Bayern Munich in Germany’s Bundesliga and Borussia Monchengladbach seventh after 19 games each.

UEFA thanked Monchengladbach and City “for their close cooperation and support”, as well as the Hungarian Football Federation for agreeing to host the match, thus offering the same gratitude that had been extended when the Liverpool-RB Leipzig game was moved.

The Puskás Árena hosted the 2020 Uefa Super Cup final between Bayern Munich and Sevilla in September, won 2-1 by the German side.