Tyler Adams and RB Leipzig have advanced to the Europa League quarterfinal by default, following UEFA and FIFA’s announcements on Monday that all Russian clubs and national teams are suspended from international competition.
The decisions announced by the European and World governing bodies for the sport were most significant for their effective elimination of the Russian national team from the final stage of World Cup qualification happening in late-March.
However, as luck would have it, the lone Russian team left in any stage of European competition was set to play against USMNT captain Adams and the Leipzigers in the two-legged, Europa League Round of 16 knockout on March 10 and 17.
This automatically sees the team through to the final eight, with matches due to take place on Thursday April 7, and one week later on April 14.
Previously, UEFA had only prevented Russian teams from hosting any games in European competition, however as Russian-led hostilities in Ukraine have only escalated in the last few days, the additional measure to entirely suspend the participation of club and national teams.
Adams and his teammates won’t know their foe for the quarterfinal until the round is drawn on March 18, following the completion of the rest of the games.
Several other teams either featuring Americans (Rangers, Barcelona, Eintracht Frankfurt) or under American ownership (Atalanta) are still left in the competition, as are six-times Europa League winners Sevilla.
