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La Liga to be played in empty stadiums

Barcelona V Alaves

BARCELONA, SPAIN - December 21: Lionel Messi #10 of Barcelona, Carles Alena #19 of Barcelona and Antoine Griezmann #17 of Barcelona during the Barcelona V Alaves, La Liga regular season match at Estadio Camp Nou on December 21st 2019 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)

Corbis via Getty Images

La Liga games until early April will be played in empty stadiums amid the growing coronavirus outbreak in Europe.

The announcement arrived from La Liga on Tuesday after games in Italy were postponed and games in Ligue 1 in France will be played with less than 1,000 fans in attendance until mid-April.

Here is the statement from Spain’s top-flight confirming the measures for the next two weeks of action, as the second tier will also be impacted and the ban on fans is in order from today.

“La Liga will continue to be in permanent contact with the Ministry of Health and the CSD to follow its recommendations. For weeks, La Liga has been working on alternative plans in coordination with Uefa in case health authorities decide to suspend any match, creating a plan to play these matches.”

It was also announced that Barcelona’s UEFA Champions League last 16 second leg clash against Napoli at the Nou Camp next Wednesday would be played with no fans, while Valencia’s UCL game against Atalanta this Tuesday would also be played in an empty stadium.

With massive games in the Champions League and Europa League taking place over the next week, it is highly likely the vast majority, if not all, of those games will be played in empty stadiums.

Follow @JPW_NBCSports