Claims that Liverpool’s Champions League game with Atletico Madrid on March 11 accelerated the spread of coronavirus on Merseyside are “an interesting hypothesis”, according to one of the UK government’s scientific advisors.
Liverpool’s elimination at the hands of Diego Simeone’s side was played at a packed-out Anfield including 3,000 travelling fans from Madrid – even though the Spanish capital was already badly affected and La Liga had decided games could only be played behind closed doors.
Paris Saint-Germain’s home game against Borussia Dortmund, played at the same time, did happen behind closed doors, and there have been suggestions that the decision not to do the same at Anfield was a fatal mistake.