Liverpool’s Leipzig Champions League trip to be moved to Budapest: reports

BERLIN: Talks are reportedly underway to hold Liverpool’s Champions League last 16 first leg tie at RB Leipzig in Budapest although the German club said no decision had yet been made.

The English club have been barred from entering Germany for the fixture on February 16 because of entry rules imposed to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

UEFA’s regulations say the home side must find a way of hosting the match or risk forfeiting it as a 3-0 defeat.

Liverpool’s German manager Jurgen Klopp said he believed an exemption should have been made for his side to travel.

All Premier League sides are being tested at least twice a week with UEFA also undertaking a testing programme for teams in the Champions and Europa League.

“It’s not our decision, nobody from Germany called me and asked me how is the situation in England,” Klopp said at a press conference on Friday.

“With all the stuff we are doing here, the record we have with cases, the discipline we show with all the stuff we do, I think it would be absolutely reasonable to make an exception.”

British media report that Leipzig are in discussions to host the game at the Puskas Arena in the Hungarian capital, among other options.