UEFA forced into Gunners tie rethink

FOOTBALL: UEFA have altered the date and kick-off time of Arsenal’s Europa League last home fixture against BATE Borisov with the game now slated to be played at 5.55pm on Thursday, February 21 next year.

The original announcement that the game would be played a day earlier and begin at 5pm was widely criticised by Arsenal fans and supporters’ groups.

Both Arsenal and London rivals Chelsea topped their respective groups and will therefore play their second legs at home – with UEFA rules stipulating the pair cannot play in the city on the same night.

The Gunners were the team whose fixture was initially brought forward with UEFA confirming that, as FA Cup winners, Chelsea are given priority for the tie with Malmo, which will kick off at 8pm.

Both Arsenal and Chelsea last played at home on the same day as recently as December 2 with kick-offs two hours apart.

Europa League Round of 32:Plzen v Dinamo Zagreb, Club Brugge v Red Bull Salzburg, Rapid Vienna v Inter Milan, Slavia Prague v Genk, Krasnodar v Bayer Leverkusen, Zurich v Napoli, Malmo FF v Chelsea, Shakhtar Donetsk v Eintracht Frankfurt, Celtic v Valencia, Rennes v Real Betis, Olympiacos v Dynamo Kiev, Lazio v Sevilla, Fenerbahce v Zenit St Petersburg, Sporting v Villarreal, BATE v Arsenal, Galatasaray v Benfica. Ties to be played February 12-14 and 20-21.