Official: Bayern Munich to play Chelsea, Dortmund, and more without fans

It is official: as anticipated, the Free State of Bavaria has ruled to prohibit large-scale events with over 1,000 spectators until April 19. For all major sports, games in Bavaria must be played without spectators present or rescheduled (kicker).

For Bayern Munich, three upcoming home games are immediately affected: most prominently, the second leg of the Champions League tie against Chelsea FC (March 18). The guests, of course, might not be sorry that Bayern’s fans are not present to cheer their team on. If Bayern advances to the quarterfinals, at least the first leg of that match will also have to be played behind closed doors.

Bayern’s home games against Eintracht Frankfurt (March 22) and Fortuna Düsseldorf (April 11) will also take place behind closed doors. Other teams based in Bavaria will also be forced to adapt, including FC Augsburg, Ingolstadt, Nürnberg, and, of course, 1860.

But wait, there more: North-Rhine Westphalia has also imposed restrictions. Hence the German Klassiker when Bayern visits Dortmund on April 4 will also be played before an empty stadium. Already the Rhine Derby between Dortmund and Schalke this Saturday, and the other Rhine Derby between Borussia Mönchengladbach and FC Köln this Wednesday (rescheduled because of the storm Sabrine) will be affected (kicker).

At the moment, Union Berlin intends to proceed as normal when Bayern comes this Saturday. Union President Dirk Zingler said, “I presume that we’ll be able to call Bayern this afternoon and say, ‘Come over, let’s drink a reasonable pilsner’” (kicker).