European football's U-turn: Bayern to host Barcelona behind closed doors

After playing in front of capacity crowds for nearly a year, football is switching back to being played behind closed doors in Europe. The upcoming Champions League match on Wednesday between Bayern Munich and Barcelona will go ahead without fans as Coronavirus cases in Germany's Bavaria have been on a rise. The city has reported cases of the Omicron variant as well.

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While Bayern qualified for the knockout stages as Group E winners, Barcelona is currently sitting on the 2nd spot in the same group.

Manchester City's game at RB Leipzig on Tuesday will also be played without an audience. The German government who have introduced fresh restrictions amid the rise in cases said that the Bundesliga matches can now happen with only 50% stadium capacity or in front of 15000 spectators.