No fans for Bayern's Champions League match vs. Barcelona

MUNICH (AP) — No supporters will be allowed in the stadium when Bayern Munich hosts Barcelona in the Champions League next week because of stricter coronavirus measures, the governor of the German state of Bavaria said Friday.

Markus Soder confirmed that Bavaria will bar fans from sports events from Saturday. German federal and state leaders agreed a maximum attendance limit of 15,000 on Thursday but states are allowed to set stricter rules if they wish.

Bayern hosts Barcelona on Wednesday. Bayern has already qualified for the knockout stages but Barcelona will be eliminated if it fails to win and Benfica beats Dynamo Kyiv.

The first top-division men's soccer game to be affected by the new rules in Bavaria is Augsburg's game against Bochum in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

Bavaria has had some of Germany’s highest coronavirus infection rates in recent weeks. The eastern state of Saxony already mandated empty stadiums for games last month, meaning Leipzig will not have fans when it hosts Manchester City on Tuesday.

The south-western state of Baden-Wurttemberg has set a limit of 750 spectators, affecting top-division clubs Freiburg and Stuttgart.

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