Reaction as Leicester thrash Villa and Champions League build-up

Like Serie A, the Japanese J-League has also suspended matches until next month.

The league’s chairman Mitsuru Murai
said they has reached a basic agreement with clubs to
extend suspension of matches until at least 3 April.

“We held a video conference
with the clubs after the liaison council and we came to a basic agreement to
suspend all matches scheduled in March,” Murai said.

“We will do our
utmost efforts and preparations to resume on 3 April.”

The lockdown in Italy could be bad news for Wales.

Juventus midfielder Aaron Ramsey could miss his country’s friendlies against Austria and USA this month.

The Football Association of Wales has indicated Ramsey, 29, will be guided by the Italian authorities on whether he can travel for the games.

You can read more here.

Spanish side Getafe have asked UEFA for permission to fly
into Italy on the day of the game for Thursday’s Europa League meeting with
Inter Milan.

Despite Monday’s government announcement saying all Serie A
matches had been suspended, UEFA do not believe the decision includes
international competition.

There has been no announcement about Thursday’s game,
although Inter played their last-32 match at the San Siro, against Bulgarian
side Ludogorets, behind closed doors.

Under normal circumstances, a visiting team is required to
be in the city where their match is being played 24 hours beforehand – and
conduct a pre-match press conference.

However, it is thought UEFA, acutely aware of the unique
circumstances, will allow Getafe to turn their visit to Milan into a day trip,
with the Spanish side leaving immediately after the game.

And this is AS in Spain who have led with “Check La Liga” as their headline.

It indicates disruption could be on it’s way in the Spanish top flight…

Other leading sports newspapers across Europe have also led with coverage of coronavirus, and the disruption it is causing.

This is L’Equipe in France who have written “The Fear of Emptiness” as their headline.

Italian newspaper La Gazzetta led with the picture of Francesco Caputo this morning to help spread his message.

Sassulo and Brescia played the final Serie A match until April on Monday and one of the players did his best to reassure fans.

Sassuolo forward
Francesco Caputo celebrated one of his two goals in their 3-0 win, which was held behind closed doors, by holding up a piece of paper with the message “Everything will be alright,
stay at home”.

The game was being played shortly after the Italian government called for a halt to all sporting activity in the country.

Moving away from domestic football news briefly…

Italy has extended its emergency coronavirus measures, which include travel restrictions and a ban on public gatherings, to the entire country.

That includes all sporting events, and Serie A has been suspended until at least 3 April.

You can read more on that story here.

As a Coventry fan, watching Leicester and Villa battle it out in the Premier League does not make happy viewing, while we remain in the third tier.

But with Villa crumbling at the King Power last night, there’s a real chance we could be in the same league as our old rivals for the first time in 20 years next term.

Harvey Barnes and Jamie Vardy both scored twice as Leicester strengthened their grip on third, while Villa remain two points from safety.

You can read the full match report here.

As always, you can have you say on today’s big football stories by Tweeting using #bbcfootball.

You can also send a text to 81111 (UK only).

We’ll be sharing your best comments throughout the morning.

Before we look at last’s night’s action, let’s hear more about that news involving Birmingham youngster Jude Bellingham now.

The 16-year-old midfielder made a visit to Manchester United’s Carrington training ground on Monday, and the rumour mill went into overdrive.

Blues have expressed the hope that they can keep Bellingham, who is not allowed to sign a professional contract until June, when he turns 17.

You can read the full story here.

But let’s start with a look at this morning’s back pages that you will be waking up to.

Leicester’s hammering of Villa is the big story but there is also news of Birmingham youngster Jude Bellingham and his visit to Manchester yesterday.

Hello and welcome to our live page on this gloomy Tuesday morning.

The rain has been pouring overnight and there’s a virus sweeping across the country, but here’s a healthy dose of football news to hopefully brighten up your day.

So chuck the kettle on and strap yourself in as we look back at last night’s Premier League action, before hearing from Jurgen Klopp as he tries to steer his Liverpool side into the Champions League quarter-final.