Absolutely no one expected Wolves' Europa League tie away at Olympiakos to be played tonight.A few days ago, the Greek club's owner Evangelos Marinakis - who also owns Nottingham Forest - tested positive for the new novel coronavirus, which should have seen the fixture suspended.However, the game has gone ahead behind-closed-doors, much to the despair of Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo.Speaking to BT Sport prior to kick-off, the Portuguese manager gave a very honest opinion on the pandemic currently engulfing the world, one which has had a major impact on sport across the world already.The Wolves manager said: "You realise what's happening worldwide, people are dying, now we have to play a game of football? "It's absurd."
Well said, Nuno.
The concept of putting professional football games ahead of the health of the players is simply not on and it's high time UEFA bring a halt to both the Europa League and the Champions League.
Whether that means suspending both competitions or cancelling them altogether is down to the governing body, but something must be done.
The Wolves manager then stated that despite the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the game, his team would try and block out the external distractions.
“Let’s go and compete," Nuno added. "It’s not what we wanted, we want to compete in a normal environment with a tough crowd that Olympiacos has, this is the way we love to compete, but the circumstances are that and it’s up to us to focus and compete well in the game."
We're often heavily critical of footballers in the modern era, but their commitment to trying to provide entertainment for fans in the midst of a pandemic needs to be commended.