Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu has criticised Napoli patron Aurelio De Laurentiis for his ‘alarmist’ statements ahead of the big match on Saturday.
The Partenopei patron urged UEFA to move the match to neutral turf because of ‘major problems’ caused by coronavirus in Catalonia.
Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu has criticised Napoli patron Aurelio De Laurentiis for his ‘alarmist’ statements ahead of the big match on Saturday.
The Partenopei patron urged UEFA to move the match to neutral turf because of ‘major problems’ caused by coronavirus in Catalonia.
But UEFA confirmed that Barcelona-Napoli will be carried out as planned on August 8 and the Blaugrana President has criticised De Laurentiis' attempt to move the match away from Catalonia.
“I do not share all the words of the Napoli President,” Bartomeu told beIN Sports. “He has his reasons, but I think it’s logical that we try to make things return to normal and normality is that the teams play in their stadiums.
“Alarmist messages like his are bad for everyone, the correct message is that of UEFA, who are trying to ensure that normality is restored and we all follow the protocol.
“I very much agree with UEFA and also with the finals in Lisbon. From the beginning we thought it would be played here, it would have been very strange not to play at Camp Nou.”
The match on Saturday is completely open, as the first leg back in February, ended in a 1-1 draw at the San Paolo.
The two sides fight for a place in the Final Eight tournament in Lisbon, Portugal, and the winners on Saturday will meet either Bayern Munich or Chelsea in the quarter-finals.