Atletico partial stadium closure delayed due to appeal

Atletico Madrid will welcome a full crowd for their Champions League second leg against Manchester City after the partial closure of their stadium was delayed.

UEFA ordered Atletico to close an area of 5,000 seats for their next match due to alleged racist behaviour in the 1-0 away defeat to City.

This appeared to indicate the Wanda Metropolitano would be closed in part for the return match on Wednesday, although UEFA only charged Atletico last Friday.

The LaLiga champions appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and filed an urgent request for the ban to be stayed due to the proximity of Atletico's next home match in European competition.

And Atletico were successful in this bid, meaning the punishment will not be implemented this week.

"Atletico's urgent request to stay the execution of the challenged decision was granted by CAS earlier today, considering the serious repercussions to local security if the partial stadium closure had to be enforced at this late stage," read a CAS media release on Wednesday.

"However, the partial closure of 5,000 seats of Atletico's stadium will be automatically lifted after the UEFA Champions League quarter-final match."