Reds face Atletico ground switch

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Liverpool's Champions League opponents Atletico Madrid must play their next two home matches away from the Calderon Stadium as a result of crowd trouble.

The Uefa ban follows the treatment of Marseille fans during and after Atletico's 2-1 win a fortnight ago.

Monkey chants were aimed at the French club's players, while the Marseille team bus was attacked after the match.

The Liverpool game, on 22 October, will be held at a neutral venue 200 miles from Madrid which has yet to be chosen.

The Spanish club have also been fined a record 150,000 euros by European governing body Uefa, while the punishment could be extended to a third home match should there be further trouble at the club within five years.

A Liverpool spokesman said: "We are liaising closely with Uefa and as soon as we have any further information we will make it available to our fans."

The decision to move the game from Madrid will deny former Atletico striker Fernando Torres the chance to return to his former home ground when the Reds look to maintain their 100% start to their European campaign next month.

Atletico must also play PSV away from the Vicente Calderon Stadium on 26 November.

"Atletico are shocked by the news," reports BBC Radio 5 Live's Ashish Sharma.

"Basically Uefa are unhappy with the way the police treated Marseille fans. They forced them to remove banners and they refused to escort the team bus from the training ground to the stadium, which was then attacked.

"The coach (Javier Aguirre) has also been banned for two matches (home and away against Liverpool) for abusing a Marseille player and there has been a record 150,000 euros fine for Marseille for monkey chanting and racist abuse by the fans."

A Uefa spokesman said the ruling was part of the organisation "acting with renewed strength" against racism.

News of the suspension comes a day after the Football Association refused to sanction a plan to stage an England friendly against Spain in Madrid because of the racist abuse suffered by the likes of Ashley Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips the last time they played there.

The punishment appears to be a lot harsher than that imposed upon Croatia a month ago.

Their FA was fined just £15,000 by world governing body Fifa after their supporters aimed monkey chants at Emile Heskey during England's World Cup qualifying 4-1 victory.

However, Gaillard denied "double standards", saying: "That was a Fifa fine, not a Uefa fine.

"We have no direct influence on Fifa decisions at all. But if we had been in charge, the punishment would have been a lot heavier."