Jurgen Klopp slammed the decision to allow the Champions League fixture between Liverpool and Ateltico Madrid take place earlier this month, according to Carlo Ancelotti.
The Everton boss has revealed to Corriere dello Sport that the German was fuming at the game going ahead, amid COVID-19 fears, and the Italian agrees.
“I spoke with Klopp a few days ago, he told me that the decision to play Liverpool v. Atletico was a criminal act and I think he’s right,” Carlo said.
“We are all living a life that we were not used to and that will change us profoundly. I’m sure we will all have to downsize, starting with football.
“Today, the priority is health, limiting the contagion. When you start again, when you finish, the dates… believe me, I don’t care. At the moment, that’s the last thing on my mind.”
Atletico’s win at Anfield was the last major fixture to take place before a wide suspension on football in Europe, and the boss’ fears that it going ahead would cause more harm than good was absolutely spot on.
Spain, and more specifically Madrid, was (and sadly still is) going through a boom in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and the decision to allow the fixture to go ahead was wrong.
Ahead of kick-off, I Tweeted that the game should have been taken behind closed doors and Spaniards should have been told not to travel. I now believe it would have been best to postpone the fixture indefinitely.
The Government should have already forced all sporting events to be played behind closed doors 🥴#LFC #CORONAVIRUShttps://t.co/BfZSI9A74I
— Ste Carson 🌱🦣 (@sjrcarson) March 11, 2020
The decision to play the game anyway, and allow residents of Madrid to travel, put the City of Liverpool – my home – at serious risk and it was not a risk worth taking.
We are now seeing the number of COVID-19 cases rise in the UK and who knows where’d we’d be if the powers that be had taken action sooner – and I don’t just mean on the football.