Liverpool face strain of the train but Fulham still hoping to fly

UEFA yesterday confirmed the matches are on despite the travel disruption caused by ash from a volcano in Iceland.

Plans have been drawn up that would see Liverpool's squad take three trains and a flight to make the first leg of their semi-final against Atletico Madrid.

If flights are not restored in time, Liverpool will set off at lunchtime today by train to London, then take the Eurostar to Paris where they will spend the night.

The following day the squad would take the TGV train to Bordeaux and from there fly to Madrid, arriving at lunchtime tomorrow.

The return journey ahead of Sunday's Premier League match at Burnley has yet to be confirmed.

Fulham were waiting until this morning before deciding whether or not to drive to Hamburg. The team would make a 10-hour journey from their training ground in Surrey to Hamburg, including a 35-minute crossing via Euro Tunnel.

But the club remain confident they will be flying by private jet tomorrow morning as first planned.

A Fulham spokesperson said: "Our preference is still to fly but if we found out (this morning) that they cannot guarantee that we will be able to fly, then we have a contingency plan which will be travelling by bus to the Euro Tunnel and driving to Hamburg.

"We will make a call very early in the morning and make a decision based on air traffic intelligence."

UEFA's announcement does not completely rule out the matches being postponed nearer the time if the travel situation continues to be a major problem.

A UEFA statement read: "UEFA is continuing to closely monitor the travel situation throughout Europe and beyond in an effort to confirm the staging of a number of matches that are due to take place this week in UEFA competitions.

"Regarding the UEFA Europa League semi-final first-leg matches scheduled for Thursday, April 22 between Atletico Madrid and Liverpool FC, and Hamburg and Fulham, it is planned that both games will go ahead as normal.

"However, with the majority of airspace over Europe still closed and other forms of transport limited or fully booked, UEFA is in close contact with both English clubs on the travel options available to them. Further news and information on the exact travel possibilities for these away teams is expected over the next 24 hours."

Both the Champions League matches between Inter Milan and Barcelona and Bayern Munich and Lyon are going ahead this week, with the visiting teams travelling by coach.

Barcelona technical secretary Txiki Begiristain has hit out at UEFA for not doing more to help clubs this week.

The Champions League holders arrived in Milan yesterday after a marathon coach journey from Catalonia ahead of their Champions League semi-final against Inter. While Begiristain insisted Barcelona would not suffer the effects of fatigue in the match, he is still unhappy UEFA showed no flexibility when it came to the possibility of postponing the fixture.

He said: "At this moment in time, making a team travel by coach belongs to a bygone age."

Liverpool last night cruised to a comfortable 3-0 win over West Ham at Anfield to keep their faint Champions League qualification hopes alive and leave the Hammers with three games to secure Premier League survival.