RRI Sports Club

Florin Orban, 24.02.2021, 12:00

On Tuesday,
Bucharest again featured on the map of Champions League football as the city’s
National Arena stadium hosted a match between Atletico Madrid and Chelsea. UEFA
decided to hold the match in Bucharest because of the problems related to the
entry of the British team to Spain amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The National
Arena thus hosted the wealthiest teams ever to face each other on this stadium.
Together, the players of the two sides are evaluated on the transfer market at
almost 1 billion and a half euros. No surprise then that the organisers did
their best to ensure the best possible play conditions. The pitch of the National
Arena, which was especially installed and prepared for Tuesday’s match, was
flawless.

The play,
however, was below expectations, with a few exceptions, such as on minute 68,
when Chelsea’s Olivier Giroud scored the match’s only goal with an acrobatic execution.
His goal was initially disallowed for being off side and then allowed after video
analysis showed he had in fact received the ball from an opposition player. The
rest of the match was lackluster, especially as Atletico, who are leading in
the Spanish championship, were very defensive and saw no attempts on goal.
Having won 1-nil, Chelsea are now favourites to advance to the quarterfinals.

Let us also
note that UEFA is also considering Bucharest’s National Arena for other matches
during the current season of the European competitions. Romania’s relatively
low incidence of the coronavirus infections compared with other countries in
Europe means that Bucharest is now on the short list of possible hosts for
other matches as well. (CM)