Ludogorets players wear face masks on San Siro pitch before Inter Milan crash amid coronavirus fears

LUDOGORETS players were pictured wearing facemasks as they stepped foot on the San Siro pitch before tonight’s Europa League clash with Inter Milan.

The match is taking place behind closed doors because of the coronavirus outbreak affecting Italy.

And stars of the Bulgarian club took no chances as they touched down in the country worst affected by the outbreak in Europe.

They travel to the San Siro trailing 2-0 in the tie after first-leg Christian Eriksen and Romelu Lukaku goals.

But they will face an Inter side lacking the backing of their vocal home supporters with no fans allowed in the ground.

There have been 322 cases of the virus in Italy – the highest number of infections outside Asia.

The decision comes off the back of a Serie A weekend ravaged by postponements over fears of the pandemic.

Inter themselves couldn’t play their scheduled home match with Sampdoria last weekend – with three other top flight matches also unable to go ahead.

And football is not the only sport to have been affected by the deadly disease.

Italy’s Six Nations trip to Ireland due to take place on March 7 has been postponed over safety concerns.

Thousands of Azzurri fans, many from the worst affected regions, were expected to descend upon Dublin.

There are also fears that coronavirus, which originated in neighbouring China, could put this summer’s Tokyo Olympics into doubt.