UEFA Changed Venues for Some Games Because of the Pandemic Restrictions in Spain

The Champions League round of 16 first leg match between Atletico Madrid and Chelsea will be played at the Arena Nationala in Bucharest, Romania, ruling body UEFA said on Wednesday.

The reason for the venue change is the entry restrictions in Spain for people coming from a high-risk countries such as Britain, where a new mutation of coronavirus has been discovered.

The date, February 23, remains the same.

That's the third Champions League match involving an English team affected by coronavirus restrictions. The first legs of RB Leipzig against Liverpool, and Borussia Moenchengladbach against Manchester City will take place in Budapest, Hungary, instead of Germany.

In the Europa League games scheduled for February 18 between Real Sociedad and Manchester United, and Benfica against Arsenal will be played in Italy also due to travel restrictions.

The Manchester United away game will be played in Turin, and the Arsenal game in Rome.