The UEFA Champions League faces a serious challenge following a terrorist threat from ISIS against the four stadiums that will host the first leg of the quarter-finals this week, starting this Tuesday evening. The matches will take place at "Santiago Bernabéu", "Emirates", "Parc des Princes", and "Wanda Metropolitano". Real Madrid will host Manchester City, Bayern Munich will visit Arsenal on Tuesday, while Paris Saint-Germain will face Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund will visit Atlético Madrid on Wednesday.
The organization "Al-Izaim", responsible for disseminating ISIS messages, published a poster threatening the four stadiums, with the message "Kill them all." This threat follows a publication by the media outlet "Al-Furqan," affiliated with ISIS, on March 30, which called for attacks against individuals attending the "Allianz Arena" in Munich for the Bayern vs. Dortmund match in the Bundesliga's Klassiker.
The group launched an attack on March 22 at the Crocus City Hall in Russia, a large concert hall in Moscow, where armed men stormed the venue and opened fire on the audience. The attack resulted in 143 deaths and around 200 injuries.
The Spanish newspaper "AS" reported that the Madrid government activated two security measures ahead of the UEFA Champions League matches this week in the Spanish capital. The Anti-Violence Committee announced that the matches between Real Madrid and Manchester City, as well as Atlético vs. Borussia Dortmund, are considered high-risk events, with more than 3,000 soldiers expected to be deployed, and approximately 8,000 fans from Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund anticipated to attend the matches.
