Atletico Madrid severely fined by UEFA before Man City rematch

Accordingly, UEFA has issued a sanction asking Atletico Madrid to close part of the stands at Wanda Metropolitano in the second leg against Man City in the Champions League took place at dawn on April 14 (Vietnam time).

The reason given was because many Atletico fans had inappropriate behavior in the first leg at the Etihad Stadium. According to the British press, a large part of about 2,000 Atletico fans are accused of provocative and discriminatory actions towards the host audience. Even this group is so extreme that it is ready to provoke, insult and attack Man City’s fans after the match.

According to UEFA’s official sanction notice, Atletico will be forced to ensure at least 5,000 seats are left empty in the second leg between the two teams at the Wanda Metropolitano. In addition, the Madrid club was also ordered to hang a banner with the words “#NoToRacism” (Say No to Racism) with the UEFA logo on the home stands.

5,000 fan seats at Atletico’s Wanda Metropolitano will be vacant in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Man City.

In fact, the reduction of 5,000 spectators out of the total capacity of 68,456 people at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium does not lessen the enthusiasm of Atletico fans when they host Manchester City tomorrow night.

However, this is a necessary punishment from UEFA mainly as a deterrent to a part of fans who are extremist and often have ugly behavior when participating in football activities.

In the first leg, Man City won at least 1-0 against Atletico Madrid thanks to midfielder Kevin De Bruyne’s only goal, thereby gaining an advantage before the second leg. The two teams will have a rematch at the Wanda Metropolitano at dawn on April 14 to decide on a ticket to the semi-finals of this year’s Champions League. The winner of this match will face one of the two opponents of the other pair of matches Chelsea and Real Madrid.​