The Premier League and Scottish Premiership fixtures were postponed between 10-12 September as a mark of respect for the passing of Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II. The same applied to the Football League programme, although attention now turns towards this week’s Champions League Match Day 2 where Liverpool, Manchester City, Rangers, Celtic, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur are scheduled to be involved. Which English Teams will play? With the United Kingdom continuing to mourn the passing of a legendary monarch, there are discussions taking place when it comes to the below fixtures: Tuesday 13 September Liverpool v Ajax Rangers v Napoli Wednesday 14 September Chelsea v Red Bull Salzburg Manchester City v Borussia Dortmund There’s an obvious difficulty here. UEFA are unlikely to allow these games to be postponed due to the tight scheduling in place for the Champions League, although there might be hesitancy on the part of English and Scottish clubs to play their fixtures on home soil while all other programmes of sporting activity have seemingly been paused. Perhaps UEFA will show some leniency in extraordinary circumstances and allow the games to be rearranged although it would be hectic for the clubs involved to fit in a fixture before the 2022 World Cup for what is already looking like a cramped schedule. Will English Clubs Play UCL Clashes in Ireland? One possible solution is that Rangers, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City might host their respective opponents at Irish sporting stadia. While this is hardly fair to supporters who have tickets to go and see the matches at Ibrox, Anfield, Stamford Bridge and the Etihad Stadium, it would mean that the games wouldn’t be held on English soil. There have been reports that the Aviva Stadium in Dublin could be used to stage some of the above clashes. Liverpool’s meeting with Ajax doesn’t clash with Tottenham as the latter are away from home on that evening, although Rangers are scheduled to meet Napolin in the same group. Chelsea’s meeting with RB Salzburg goes head to head with Manchester City’s home game against Borussia Dortmund. It all comes down to whether UK clubs can play matches at home during a period of national mourning. There will be those who criticise the moving of the locations considering that it will inconvenience supporters and also reduce home advantage in a hugely important competition. Could the Europa League and Conference League Also Be Affected? Indeed, if the above happens to the Champions League, then we have to consider the European fixtures involving the British teams on Thursday evening. Arsenal were set to host PSV Eindhoven at the Emirates Stadium, although Manchester United, Hearts and West Ham are all set to play away from home.
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