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Real Madrid's Champions League game with Manchester City postponed


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Two UEFA Champions League last-16 second legs have been postponed including Real Madrid's meeting with Manchester City. 

The other game to be shelved is Juventus v Lyon in Turin. Both games were to be played on St. Patrick's Day.

Real Madrid's squad have been quarantined after a member of the Real Madrid basketball team tested positive for coronavirus.

The Real football and basketball squads share training facilities in Madrid.

Juventus say they're "activating all the isolation procedures required by law" after their defender Daniele Rugani tested positive for the virus. Reuters have reported the squad will spend two weeks in isolation.

La Liga has suspended all top-flight and second-tier games for the next two matchdays because of the outbreak.

City confirmed the suspension of their proposed trip to Madrid and sent its "best wishes to the players and staff at Real Madrid’s football and basketball teams".

No dates have been confirmed for the re-arranged second legs, but that could be determined by the outcome of UEFA's video conference next Tuesday (March 17).

They've invited representatives of its 55 member associations, along with the boards of the European Club Association and the European Leagues to discuss European football's response to the outbreak.

L'Équipe have reported that one potential outcome of that meeting would be the suspension of both the Champions League and Europa League with Euro 2020 held back until next summer.

It's unclear how a deferred European Championships would affect the remaining playoffs, but Slovakia have asked UEFA to postpone the March 26 visit of the Republic of Ireland to Bratislava.

Bosnia-Herzegovina have also asked that their game with Northern Ireland be postponed.

Individual leagues may also be postponed, even though they are not directly controlled by UEFA.

These are merely speculative measures, with New York Times soccer correspondant Rory Smith pointing out that there are "no red lines" to UEFA's video conference.


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Champions League Euro 2020 Juventus La Liga Lyon Manchester City Real Madrid Serie A UEFA UEFA Champions League Uefa Euro 2020

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