Champions League fixtures: will matches go ahead this week? British clubs’ situation explained

The Royal Family confirmed the passing of Queen Elizabeth II last Thursday afternoon.

After 70 years of reign, the Queen’s death has brought on a period of mourning as Britain and people around the world reflect on her time on the throne.

While it was initially unclear whether last weekend’s football fixtures would be affected by her death, it was eventually announced on Friday that all games would be postponed - including tonight’s clash between Arsenal and Everton.

Football fans were quick to share their opinions on the rescheduling of fixtures, withsome claiming coming together at the match would have been a good way to honour The Queen, while others insisted it would be disrespectful to play them amid the period of mourning.

Next weekend’s games have also been cast into doubt, with The Queen’s funeral set to take place on Monday 19th September - which will now be a bank holiday.

Meanwhile, there has also been plenty of uncertainty around this week’s Champions League fixtures, with Tottenham, Liverpool, Celtic, Rangers, Chelsea and Man City all scheduled to compete on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Here is everything we know about the Champions League potential postponements...

Will Champions League fixtures go ahead this week?

According to The Athletic, Champions League fixtures will resume as normal this week and any failure to do so would mean forfeiting points.

It is likely the individual clubs will be eager to play their matches, as even if they were able to be postponed, it would be very difficult to find time to reschedule each game with the group stage set to conclude in the first week of November.

Tottenham will be getting flashbacks to last season when they were forced to forfeit from their Europa Conference League clash with Rennes due to a Covid-19 outbreak - meaning they were knocked out of the group stage.

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Arsenal’s Europa League clash with PSV on Thursday is off due to police shortages as a result of funeral preparations.

Why has Rangers vs Napoli been moved?

While Rangers vs Napoli will still go ahead this week, the Scottish club have confirmed that it has been pushed back 24 hours to the Wednesday night.

This is due to limitations on policing resources due to ongoing events surrounding the passing of the Queen.

However, this means the match will have to be played with no away fans so there is less strain on the police. In turn, Giovanni van Bronckhurst’s side won’t be able to take fans to the reverse fixture in Naples as a matter of ‘sporting integrity’.

A club statement read: “Rangers can today confirm the upcoming UEFA Champions League match with SSC Napoli at Ibrox has been rescheduled for Wednesday, 14 September at 8pm.

“Rangers, of course, recognise this switch in date will inconvenience a number of our loyal supporters, and refunds will be available to those unable to attend the match.

“Additionally, no away supporters will be present at the match, allowing the club to make additional tickets available to MyGers members as a priority.

“UEFA have also confirmed that as a matter of sporting integrity, no Rangers fans will be permitted to attend the return fixture in Naples.”