Tottenham, Liverpool and PSG seek Champions League revival

The global virus outbreak means there will be at least two stadiums without fans when the Champions League resumes this week with second-leg matches in the round of 16 on Tuesday.

After reaching the final last season, Tottenham have an uphill task to make the quarter-finals this time round.

A 1-0 deficit must be overturned without a recognisable striker in the team with both Harry Kane and Son Heung-min injured.

The North London club is enduring a five-game winless run in all competitions that began with the first-leg loss to Leipzig, including a draw at Burnley on Saturday that leaves the team seven points from the top four.

“As well as we play in some games, we’re not getting over the line,” said midfielder Dele Alli, who scored a penalty equaliser at Burnley.

“I think we’ve shown the character we’ve had in this squad throughout the years we’ve been together. This is a very tough period for us in terms of results but I believe we can turn it around.”

Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho is grumbling about his squad shortages while preparing for the trip to Germany, complaining about the commitment of a fit player - record-signing Tanguy Ndombele.

Leipzig rested top scorer Timo Werner for the first hour of their 0-0 draw with Wolfsburg on Saturday. With or without Werner on the field, Leipzig looked weak in attack.

The win over Tottenham was a bright spot this year for Leipzig, which has only four wins from 10 games in 2020.

German news agency dpa reported on Monday that the game would go ahead as scheduled with fans, citing the Leipzig city government.

Atalanta have a 4-1 lead from the first leg and won’t have to worry about Valencia’s fans as the Italian team tries to reach the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time.

The game will be played without fans present as Spain tries to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.  Next week’s Europa League game between Getafe and Inter Milan will also be played without fans, but there are as yet no restrictions in place for the Barcelona-Napoli game on March 18 in the Champions League.

Empty stadiums are not new in the Champions League, but they’re typically a UEFA punishment for fan disorder or racism.

Atalanta has played only once since the first leg because the virus outbreak has interrupted the Italian league calendar.  That was a 7-2 win over Lecce on March 1, the third time this season Atalanta have scored seven goals. It has a league-leading 70 goals from 25 Serie A games.

While Atalanta have nine days of rest before the game, Valencia is coming off a 1-1 draw with Alaves in the Spanish league on Friday.

It’s unclear how Atalanta can host a Champions League quarter-final match.

Atalanta is from Bergamo and plays its home European games at the San Siro Stadium in Milan. Both cities are covered by Italian government quarantine measures because of the virus.

Atletico Madrid heads to Anfield aiming to reproduce their gritty performance from the first leg, when the Spanish team played a perfect match according to the standards of coach Diego Simeone. The 1-0 victory was decided by an early goal from Saul Niguez and a defense that kept the defending champions from producing a single shot on goal.

It was exactly the kind of no-frills victory sought by the Argentine coach who for several seasons has maintained his team as one of the toughest competitors in Europe.

Atletico travel to England after being held to a 2-2 draw by Sevilla in the Spanish league on Saturday. Portugal forward Joao Felix scored his second goal in three matches since returning from injury. He missed the first leg.

Liverpool’s focus is on defending their European Cup with the Premier League trophy virtually wrapped up. With a 25-point lead, Liverpool only needs two wins from their remaining nine league games to be certain of ending the 30-year title drought.

PSG faces elimination from the Champions League at the last-16 stage for the fourth season in a row, and this time in an empty Parc des Princes.

Paris police said on Monday fans would not be allowed to attend the game after France banned gatherings of more than 1,000 people.

To make things more difficult, PSG forward Neymar has been short of match fitness after a rib injury forced him to sit out four games.

PSG coach Thomas Tuchel wanted him fine-tuned for the return leg, but Neymar’s needless red card on Feb. 23 - for a wild lunge against a Bordeaux player - caused him to miss the next league game against Dijon because he was suspended.

Associated Press