Imagine if the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics had to travel by bus or rail between their two cities for their NBA playoffs first-round series.
Although the distances aren’t quite so extreme, that’s what is expected to happen in the UEFA Champions League semifinals. The Eyjafjallajokull volcano eruption in Icleand last week — and the ensuing flight bans it caused — has forced Barcelona to travel over land to Italy for Tuesday’s first leg against Inter Milan, and Lyon will do the same to face Bayern Munich in Germany on Wednesday.
The second-tier Europa League semifinals also are expected to go ahead as planned Thursday, but English clubs Liverpool and Fulham are both anxiously awaiting skies to reopen so they can fly to face Atletico Madrid and Hamburg.
“One of UEFA’s concerns is that it should be fair and that their opponents don’t have to go through hell and high water to get to the game,” said Fulham manager Roy Hodgson, whose team could take the train under the English Channel to get to the continent.
