After Italy and its "zero match" with the Atalanta-Valencia meeting, England also wants to measure the consequences of the knockout stages of the Champions League between Liverpool and Atlético Madrid (2-3). The Sunday Times reported that a British Edge Health study found that the match "resulted in an additional 41 deaths" from the coronavirus.
Indeed, on March 11, 3,000 Madrid supporters had made the trip to Anfield for Liverpool-Atlético, which was played out before all the restrictions put in place in Europe to fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. Imperial College London and the University of Oxford estimate that at the time of the meeting, Spain already had 640,000 cases of Covid-19, against 100,000 in England.
Madrid mayor says "there should have been more caution"
By this time, Spain had already started closing many businesses, schools and restaurants, and some matches were held behind closed doors. Last month Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida, the mayor of Madrid, admitted that moving supporters to Liverpool was a "mistake". “It made no sense that 3,000 Atlético fans could go to Anfield at that time. Looking back, (...) I think there should have been more caution, "he told Spanish radio Onda Cero .
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