The dispute this Thursday of the second leg of the playoff for access to the round of 16 of the Europa League between Real Betis and the Russian team of Zenit St. Petersburg is not in danger in principledespite the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and will be played as scheduled from 9:00 p.m. at the Benito Villamarín stadium, the Verdiblanco club has reported.
UEFA has condemned this Thursday the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian military forces, although they have not made any decision on the game that this Thursday is to be played by the only Russian team that plays the playoff to the round of 16 of the Europa League – Zenit, since Spartak Moscow is already qualified for that round – so the visit of the St. Petersburg team to Benito Villamarín –where he will be accompanied by some 200 Russian fans- it will take place as planned, despite the escalation of the war unleashed by the Russians.
the match already was declared high risk days ago by the National Anti-Violence Commission, so it will be surrounded by exceptional security measures, which include the presence of 750 officers from different bodies, including the National Police, Local Police, 061 and more than 400 private security guards and service auxiliaries, as well as as guide dogs specialized in the detection of explosives, Firefighters and Civil Protection Personnel.