The venue for Manchester United's Europa League game against Real Sociedad has been changed and now the match will take place at Juventus Stadium in Turin, UEFA announced on Tuesday. Earlier, the match was scheduled to be played at the Reale Arena in San Sebastian, Spain.
"UEFA can confirm that the UEFA Europa League round of 32 first leg match between Real Sociedad de Futbol and Manchester United FC will now take place at the Juventus Stadium in Turin. The date of the match (18 February 2021) and kick-off time (18:55CET) will remain the same," UEFA said in a statement.
"UEFA would like to thank Real Sociedad de Futbol and Manchester United FC for their close cooperation and assistance in finding a solution to the issue at hand, as well as the Italian Football Federation and Juventus for their support and agreeing to host the match in question," it added.
Manchester United also made an announcement regarding the development and added that the venue was changed due to the Spanish government's restrictions on travellers entering the country from England, due to the new COVID-19 variant.
"The away leg of Manchester United's UEFA Europa League round-of-32 tie against Real Sociedad will now take place at Juventus's Allianz Stadium in Turin, it has been confirmed. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side were set to travel to Reale Arena, in San Sebastian, Spain, to take on the Basque club on Thursday, February 18," the club said in a statement.
"However, the game, which kicks off at 17:55 GMT, has been moved to Italy because of Spanish government restrictions on travellers entering the country from England, due to the new COVID-19 variant. The second leg, to be played at Old Trafford at 20:00 GMT on Thursday 25 February, remains unchanged," the statement added.
