DBasia.news – JBarcelona manager Quique Setian hopes that his team can host Napoli in the second leg of the Champions League last 16 at Camp Nou rather than outside their own stadium.
Barcelona were matched by Napoli 1-1 in the first leg at San Paolo which was packed with the majority of host supporters on February 26th, but the second leg which was planned to run without spectators at Camp Nou was delayed because the COVID-19 pandemic spread so widely that almost the entire soccer competition in the world suspended.
On Wednesday (17/6) yesterday, UEFA announced will hold the last eight Champions League round in Lisbon on August, but for the rest of the last 16 matches there were still no certain decision.
In addition to Barcelona vs Napoli, three other last 16 second leg matches have also not been played like Manchester City vs Real Madrid, Chelsea vs Bayern Munich, and Juventus vs Olympique Lyon.
UEFA said that the match arena will be finalized before the draw of the last eight round on July 10th.
“I want to play in our own stadium, because if not the opponent gets the benefit as in the first leg playing in their stadium with full supporters,” Setien said as quoted by Reuters on Thursday.
Setien also said he did not agree if the last eight and so forth was only determined by one match, rather than two legs as usual.
“I think it’s bad, not just for Barca but for all the teams. With two matches you can correct mistakes in the first game, especially with everything at stake now,” he said.
“I tend to support two legs, but everything goes back to the UEFA decision and we have to adapt,” he concluded.
So far four teams have booked a place in the last eight of the Champions League namely Atalanta, RB Leipzig, PSG, and of course Atletico Madrid, who successfully eliminated the defending champions Liverpool.