English giants, Manchester City are battling to maintain the home advantage for their UEFA Champions League tie with Real Madrid after UEFA’s governing body moved ahead with plans to finish the competition in Portugal.
City lead 2-1 in their round of 16 tie against the Spanish giants but it is still unclear if the second leg will take place at the Etihad Stadium as originally scheduled. The Times reports that UEFA are keen for the remaining second legs to be played in Porto and Guimaraes ahead of a mini-tournament in Lisbon to crown this season’s winner.
City are said to be lobbying to be allowed to play the hugely important fixture in Manchester. They are not alone. Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Juventus are also fighting for the right to maintain home advantage.
Bayern lead 3-0 against Chelsea from the first leg at Stamford Bridge, but Barca’s tie with Napoli is finely poised after a 1-1 draw in Italy. Juve, meanwhile, must come from behind after losing 1-0 at Lyon in late February.
Earlier this month, Barca boss Quique Setien warned of the danger of having to play the second leg away from the Nou Camp.
‘It would be damaging for us to play Napoli on neutral turf, seeing as we already faced them on their home ground at the San Paolo,’ he said.
‘If this is the scenario, then we’d have to accept it. Things are still up in the air, there are various suggestions, so we’ll see what happens.’
The Times claims that UEFA wants the second legs played in Portugal to make it ‘easier to manage international coronavirus restrictions’.
The country does not require visitors to self-isolate on arrival.
UEFA have already confirmed that the Champions League will be completed with a World Cup-style mini-tournament in Lisbon over 12 days in August.
