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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Sam Meade

Coronavirus fears mean Chelsea 'expected' to play Bayern Munich behind closed doors

Chelsea 's Champions League second-leg tie with Bayern Munich is set to be played behind closed doors.

The Blues are already 3-0 down from the first-leg at Stamford Bridge a fortnight ago and face an uphill task to progress past the German champions.

But any game at the Allianz Arena is now expected to take place without any fans present, according to Bild .

Football around the continent has been affected by the coronavirus and games are now being played behind closed doors in an effort to contain the spread.

The Allianz Arena is set to be empty for Bayern's clash with Chelsea (EMPICS Sport)

Champions League last 16 games between PSG and Borussia Dortmund as well as Valencia's clash with Atlanta are also being played without fans.

Wolves ' Europa League game in the Greek capital against Olympiakos will be played behind closed doors as well.

Top flight games in France will only be played with a maximum of 1000 fans present - or none at all in some cases.

Frank Lampard's side face an uphill battle (REUTERS)

However Italy is Europe's most affect nation and the decision has been made to postpone all Serie A fixtures until April.

The last round of fixtures, including Juventus ' game with Inter Milan, were played without fans.

Guiseppe Conte, Italy's prime minister, has said that the country needs "change its habits" in an effort to prevent the virus spreading further.

"There is no more time, the numbers tell us there is a significant increase in the contagion, in intensive care and the deaths," Conte said. "Our habits have to change, we must sacrifice something for the good of all of Italy. This is why we will adopt even more stringent measures."

"I will sign the new decree, which can be summed up with the phrase ‘I am staying at home.’ There are no more red zones, there is just an Italy that is protected.

"We must avoid travel unless for proven work reasons, health reasons or other necessities. We ban large public gatherings.

"We also have more stringent measures in mind for sporting events. Serie A and all sporting tournaments in general are suspended. All the fans must accept that.”

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