Europa League: Tottenham to play in Budapest again?

Tottenham's manager José Mourinho said at the draw, regarding the first leg of the match on March 11, that he likes the Croatian venue where they could play, and he is also confident that given the skills of the Croatian footballers, they are looking ahead of a very good clash.

"Croatian football is Croatian football, lots of talent. It's a football country. [It's] not a very difficult flight, not too far. I feel very positive things, but the most important thing is that we get to the quarter-finals," BBC quoted Mourinho.

Since January, however, Croatian authorities have classified certain states, including Great Britain, as ‘high risk' due to the spread of the coronavirus variant. Overall, entry to Croatia has been restricted for countries with such classification. Therefore, it's certain that the teams will have to look for a new location instead of Zagreb, as Croatian sportske.jutarnji.hr wrote.

The article emphasized that the UEFA would make the final decision, but Budapest can also be listed among those cities as a neutral venue that have hosted international cup matches in recent weeks. For example, Tottenham won against Wolfsberg 4-1 in the Puskás Aréna in the previous round of the Europa League.

The Hungarian capital has great references regarding hosting the European cup matches as it has already given a home for the RB Leipzig-Liverpool and the Mönchengladbach-Manchester City Champions League games. After all these, it wouldn't be a surprise if Budapest was in consideration as a possible location once again.

In addition, there may be other changes to the Europa League program. The rematch for Tottenham and Dinamo as well as Arsenal-Olympiacos match would be held in London on March 18. According to the UEFA's rules, two matches cannot be played in the same city or within 50 kilometers from each other on the same day if the clubs requested it at the beginning of the season. According to the Croatian portal, it's possible that even the location selection rights will be swapped in one of the pairings.

Translated by Vanda Orosz