Coronavirus: Rangers' tie away to Bayer Leverkusen to be played behind closed doors
- Published
The region containing Leverkusen has the highest recorded cases of coronavirus of Germany's 16 states
Rangers say they have received official confirmation next week's match with Bayer Leverkusen in Germany will be played behind closed doors.
The German club announced on Tuesday that the game on 19 March was set to be closed to supporters because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Thursday's first leg at Ibrox will be open to ticket holders.
"Rangers regrets that supporters will have made travel arrangements," the club said in a statement.
"But warnings and advice about coronavirus must be followed. The German authorities believe this is the correct course of action and Rangers respects their decision not to allow fans into the stadium."
Leverkusen's Bundesliga match against Werder Bremen on Monday and Chelsea's Champions League match away to Bayern Munich on 18 March will also be played behind closed doors.
So, too, will this Thursday's Europa League ties involving Manchester United and Wolves, who travel to LASK and Olympiakos respectively.
Rangers manager Steven Gerrard said he was "not delighted" about the prospect of no fans being admitted to next week's second leg.
"Football is all about atmospheres and supporters and people getting the opportunity to go follow their team, especially when you're at this stage of a competition," he added.
"I know how excited our own supporters are. For both clubs it's not an ideal situation but it is what it is. We've all got to follow the experts in this situation and do what we're told.
"It's a very unique situation that I've never faced before."