The Union of European Football Associations, UEFA, wants to complete the 2019/2020 Champions League with a ‘Final Eight’ tournament in Lisbon.
UEFA has decided to finish this year’s Champions League with a Final Eight Mini Tournament which will be played within 11 days in Lisbon.
This is according to a plan which will be presented to UEFA executive committee for confirmation on Wednesday..
Champions League was suspended in March due to the unexpected outbreak of coronavirus pandemic.
UEFA Champions League was suspended with the second leg of the remaining last 16 rounds still pending. Therefore, UEFA has decided to complete the remaining round of 16 second leg at scheduled venues.
The quarter-final of the Champions League have now be made to be a single leg game and will be played with a period of 4 days starting from August 12 – August 15.
The semi-finals will be played on August 18 and 19 and the Final of the Champions League will be played on August 23 in the Lisbon.
The plan allows for a quicker completion of the season than the traditional two-legged home and away format but does mean the competition will have six fewer games which will cost UEFA broadcast revenue.
Benfica’s Estadio da Luz is one of the likely venues that will host Champions League games
The games are likely to be shared between Lisbon’s two major stadiums – Benfica’s Estadio da Luz and Sporting Lisbon’s Jose Alvalade stadium.
Organisers are proceeding on the basis that matches will be played behind closed-doors but UEFA is understood to have left the door open for possible changes should public health conditions in Portugal allow.
The teams already qualified for the quarter-finals are France’s Paris St Germain, Italy’s Atalanta, Spain’s Atletico Madrid and Germany’s RB Leipzig.
The remaining last 16 second-leg fixtures are Manchester City’s home leg against Real Madrid, Chelsea’s trip to Bayern Munich, Juventus’s home game against Olympique Lyonnais and Napoli’s visit to Barcelona.
The UEFA Europa League will follow the procedure to complete this year’s Europa League at German Venues from August 10.
The remaining last 16 games will be held at neutral venues in Germany with the ‘Final Eight’ held in Duisburg, Duesseldorf, Gelsenkirchen and Cologne.
Manchester United, AS Roma and Inter Milan are among the teams still involved in the Europa League.
Istanbul was due to host the 2020 final but will now, instead be the venue for the 2021 edition, with all other scheduled hosts moving back a year.
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