The most important match of the first night in week 6 of the Champions League group stage was stopped after 33 minutes, as the snow and hail dropping down in Istanbul was a bit too much for Galatasaray and Juventus players to carry on with this match.

Watching the winter spectacle from home, you couldn’t help feel sorry for the players on the pitch – not seeing very well, having no footing, and playing in a match that slowly but steadily turned into an irrelevant battle against mother nature.

Any normal footballing body would have cancelled the match 10 minutes earlier, when it was quite clear nothing was going to come of this. This isn’t NFL, and soccer can’t be played under such conditions. The problem is that UEFA is so worried about doing something that’s slightly bending the rules or the original plans that it takes time for them to make important decisions such as this.

The match will be renewed from the moment it was abandoned: 33 minutes into the match, with a score of 0-0. Hopefully, better luck and better weather will help this one finally end. Juventus, two points above Galatasaray, only need a draw to make into the next stage. The Turkish champions are guaranteed a third place finish, but need to beat Juventus in order to join Real Madrid and play in the knockout stage.