UEFA have accepted Real Madrid’s request to close the roof of the Bernabéu for tonight’s Champions League match against Man City.
The La Liga side are looking to create a hostile atmosphere in the Spanish capital for their Premier League visitors as they have faced them in the previous two editions of the Champions League.
The Manchester club hammered Carlo Ancelotti’s team last season, overcoming the Spanish giants in the semi-finals with a 5-1 aggregate win, which could have been much more.
Real Madrid emerged victorious at the same stage the year before, producing an impressive comeback at the Bernabeu to win the tie 6-5 on aggregate.
Madrid knows how difficult it is to beat the Premier League champions and are looking to make home advantage count on Tuesday night.
The La Liga club believe closing the roof of the newly refurbished Santiago Bernabeu will increase the noise levels and after making a request to UEFA to do so, the governing body of European football have accepted it, reports Marca’s Jose Felix Diaz.
Man City are the favourites against Real Madrid
Facing each other for the third season running, this tie once again promises to be a very entertaining affair.
Ancelotti’s sit comfortably at the top of the La Liga table and had the weekend off due to the Copa del Rey final taking place. The Spanish giants were lucky to come through the last round against RB Leipzig as the German club caused the La Liga side all sorts of problems.
Man City will be the favourites heading into Tuesday night’s match and have looked more like themselves in recent weeks. Pep Guardiola’s side were 4-2 winners over Crystal Palace at the weekend and that is a scoreline the City boss would be happy to take back to the Etihad after tonight’s clash.
So UEFA have to give consent for the game to be played with a closed roof despite weather conditions not needing this. The reason is to make the atmosphere more hostile?
Consent has, apparently, been given for this so hostility against visiting teams is deemed an entirely acceptable reason by UEFA?
Let’s hope against hope that the ‘hostility’ doesn’t cause any of the unpleasant incidents that mars many inter club games in Europe to the detriment of life and limb of our visiting supporters.