Atletico Madrid have had their two match home ban in Europe temporarily lifted by UEFA after the cub itself and Lverpool put arguments forward for next weeks Champions League fixture between the two sides to take place at the Vicente Calderon stadium as initially planned.Atletico were banned from playing their next two home European fixtures at their ground following reports of racial abuse and crowd trouble before, during and after their tie against Marseille earlier this month.
The ban meant that their game against Liverpool on the 22nd of October would have been moved to a neutral venue at least 200 miles from their home ground. The timing of the announcement angered Liverpool supporters who would have been forced to change their travel arrangements and incur extra costs, a proposition which they felt was effectively punishing them for Atletico’s actions.
This led to Rick Parry meeting with the FA to put together an argument against the match being moved which was successful, the game will now go ahead as planned but the Spanish outfit’s ban will be in place for the following two home UEFA sanctioned ties.
As well as the ban, Atletico were also hit with a record 150,000 Euro fine and despite coffing up the club are adamant that they are not guilty of any wrong doing.
They chant ‘Kun, Kun, Kun’ at Argentinean striker Sergio Aguero and they think that this has been mistaken for monkey chants which has led to the UEFA sanctioning.
Manager Javier Aguirre has also been punished for abusing a Marseille player. The notoriously fiery coach claims that there were no racist connotations and the club hope that video evidence will prove this. However, at this moment in time he is not allowed on the sidelines, the tunnel area or the dressing room and is forbidden from communicating with his team during both Liverpool encounters.
This should give the Reds the edge in both matches and the odds on Liverpool should be red hot in the build-up to both games.
And with both Atletico and Liverpool on six points in group D, the results of the double header between the sides could be vital in determining which side finishes top of the group, indeed two defeats and results going against either side could see them drop out of the top two.
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