Arsenal face Benfica in the Round of 32 of the Europa League later this month and according to Portuguese publication Mais Futebol, the two legs could be played at neutral venues.
They claim: “Benfica will face Arsenal on a neutral field, in the Europa League round of 32.
“From what Maisfutebol found out, there is an understanding between the two clubs and UEFA that the tie will still have two matches, but on neutral ground, due to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic of covid-19 (namely regarding travel, to countries and mandatory isolation periods that are not compatible with the match schedule).
“The two clubs have intensified conversations in the last few hours, always in tune with UEFA, and the forecast is that, in the next few hours, three or four concrete possibilities will be defined to receive the matches.
“Then, in the coming days, from that range of options, the stages of the two games between Benfica and Arsenal will be chosen.
“At this point, the possible stages for these two games have yet to be defined.”
The report also goes on to add that venues in Spain, France and Italy are being considered for the two Europa League games and some stadiums in Greece are also a possibility.
It will be interesting to see how this situation pans out in the coming days but playing the matches at neutral venues certainly cannot be ruled out as just a few days ago it was confirmed that RB Leipzig will face Liverpool in the Champions League at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary instead of the Red Bull Arena in Germany.
A neutral venue would not cause too much stir since fans are not allowed inside stadium anyways but the extra travel could be a big hassle for Arsenal since in between their Europa League games, the North London side also have some important matches in the Premier League.
