BEVERLY HILLS, March 01, (THEWILL) – The home and away UEFA Europa League fixtures for the next round involving English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur and Dinamo Zagreb of the Croatian Football League have been reversed. The reversal was effected due to a fixture clash with the next round match of Spurs’ north London rivals Arsenal.
Jose Mourinho’s club were originally due to face the Croatian champions away on Thursday, March 11 with the return fixture billed for the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium a week later, being Thursday, March 18.
This schedule did not take into consideration the fact that the Gunners were set to face Greek side Olympiakos at their home grounds, the Stadio Georgios Karaiskaki, on the same evening, which is the venue selected for Tottenham’s away fixtures.
As a consequence, Spurs have had their double-header venues reversed. The basis for selecting which tie will be affected by reversals stems from the respect accorded Arsenal, who as domestic cup winners from their FA Cup triumph last season, are given priority and therefore retain their home tie in the return match.
An official statement from Tottenham, making this public, read: “Both legs of the tie will continue to be staged at each club’s home stadium with the first leg now taking place at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday 11 March (kick-off 8pm UK) and the return leg at Stadium Maksimir in Zagreb on Thursday 18 March (kick off 5.55pm UK).
“UEFA has switched our games to avoid two teams from the same city playing at home on the same evening in accordance with Article 21 of the UEFA Europa League regulations for the 2020/21 season, and the principles approved by the Club Competitions Committee.”
Mourinho’s charges made short work of their qualification for this round of 16, dispatching Austrian side Wolfsberger with aplomb, home and away, with an 8-1 aggregate domination.
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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
