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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
JOE KRISHNAN

PSG vs Borussia Dortmund Champions League tie to be played behind closed doors over coronavirus fears

The Champions League knockout tie between Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund will be played behind closed doors amid fears over the spread of the coronavirus.

The second leg was due to take place at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday, with Dortmund taking a 2-1 lead to Paris after Erling Braut Haaland's double at Signal Iduna Park.

PSG had already seen their Ligue 1 match with Strasbourg postponed on Saturday with over 1,000 reported cases in France.

Only three days ago, however, PSG released a statement reassuring the Champions League game would go ahead as planned under "normal conditions".

But on Monday, the Paris Police Prefecture confirmed the tie would be played in front of an empty stadium to prevent spreading the Covid-19 virus.

Uefa later confirmed the decision and PSG, in a statement, promised to host the match in the "best possible conditions".

It read: "Paris Saint-Germain takes note of the decision of the Prefecture of Police to play the match on Wednesday March 11, 2020 between Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund behind closed doors.

"In this context, the club teams remain fully mobilised to organise the meeting in the best possible conditions."

It means two of the eight matches in the Champions League last-16 stage will be played without fans in the stadium, with Valencia's home tie against Atalanta also due to be played behind closed doors.

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