Coronavirus has had a big effect on sport and probably its biggest impact has been the lack of pre match handshakes, well at least it confused Valencia players on Tuesday night.
The spread, and potential spread, of Covid-19 has led to the cancellation of sports events and forced some to be played behind closed doors, including several Champions League games.
Valencia's game against Atalanta was played without fans but there was more confusion about the lack of a pre-match 'Respect' handshake with the home team not completely sure what to do after the anthem was played.
The scene of the Champions League flag being waved by kids in the centre circle along with all the pomp and ceremony of the tournament anthem played out in front of zero fans was all very odd.
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Add in the fact that there's a stadium announcer clearly working despite nobody really around to announce to and the whole playing matches behind closed doors certainly looks odd, even though it's obviously necessary.
It was a shame for match going fans that they had to miss out on going to the game as they missed an all time Champions League classic.
Atalanta led 4-1 on aggregate going into the game, giving their Spanish opponents little chance of qualifying for the quarter finals, and took the lead through a Josip Ilicic penalty after just three minutes.
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Kevin Gameiro made it 1-1 after 21 minutes but Ilicic scored again from the spot just before half-time.
Valencia turned the second leg around as Gameiro and Ferran Torres scored with 20 minutes left of the match but Ilicic scored twice more to become one of just the fourth player to score four goals in a Champions League knockout game.
It's a huge shame no one was in attendance to see one of the all time great Champions League performances but it's completely understandable and the right decision.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: valencia, Football News, Covid 19, Serie A, Atalanta, Coronavirus, Champions League, Spain, La Liga, Italy
