Quique Setien urges UEFA to allow Barcelona to host Napoli

Quique Setien saw Barcelona draw at Napoli back in February and he feels the Italians should not escape from a trip to Camp Nou. 

Barcelona boss has asked UEFA to allow the Catalans host the second leg of the Champions League last 16 tie against Napoli.

A 1-1 draw in Naples was to be followed by an 18 March second leg but the coronavirus pandemic forced the match to be called off. UEFA recently announced that the remaining second legs will be played on August 7 or 8.

Barcelona feel that Napoli must play on Barcelona’s turf as the first leg was hosted by Napoli that gave some advantage to the Italians. 

UEFA have not responded yet and as things stand, the clubs will have to play at a neutral ground in Portugal, finalizing that the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final of the competition will be held in Lisbon from August 12-23.

In an interview on Thursday, Setien said, “What I hope is that against Napoli we can play here. They already played at home with a lot of people cheering their team. I think it is worse but not only for Barca, for everyone. With two games you have the possibility of solving a mistake in one of them. We all would like to play a two-leg game but the circumstances are what they are and you have to adapt. There are many new circumstances and this is going to be another.”

Both La Liga and the Premier League have begun without any problems and things are looking good. Football is finally back but obviously, without fans. 

However, recently, Serie A were planning to start allowing fans to be a part of the game too, “Just like old days,” while the Premier League had a plan of issuing “Covid-19 passports.”

As things stand, nothing is official but fans can only hope to get back to the stadiums at the earliest. 

featured image credits- goal.com