By the time we reached the end of March, most of us doubted that football would be returning anytime soon. Rumors soon began circulating that some of the major European leagues were looking at a restart, and while a couple did end up cancelling the season, we now have the Bundesliga, Serie A, La Liga, and English Premier League back in business. The question that remained was about what UEFA would do about the Champions League, but after a major announcement on Wednesday, we now have some of the answers. Let’s take a look at who will be in and the format that UEFA will be following in the coming weeks so you can start panning ahead your bets against their Champions League odds.
UEFA Champions League 2020 Update
Which Teams are Still in the Champions League?
There are 4 teams who have currently booked their place in the final 8, and they are Paris Saint-Germain, RB Leipzig, Atalanta, and Atletico Madrid. They will be joined by 4 more teams once the second legs of the Round of 16 are played. We will get into that in a moment, but let’s take a look at the 4 fixtures that are still to be played, with the first leg score in parentheses.
- Man City (2) vs (1) Real Madrid
- Bayern Munich (3) vs (0) Chelsea
- Juventus (0) vs (1) Lyon
- Barcelona (1) vs (1) Napoli
UEFA are looking to have these games played on August 7 and 8, but it has yet to be decided whether those games will be played at the home stadiums of the teams or at a neutral venue in Lisbon.
The Champions League Final 8 Mini-Tournament
The one thing that has been confirmed is that the last 8 teams will congregate in Lisbon for a mini-tournament, with games played as a straight knockout as opposed to the two legs that we are used to in the Champions League. The games will be split between the Estadio da Luz (home of Benfica) and the Estadia Jose Alvalade (home of Sporting Lisbon). The condensed tournament will run from August 12 through 23, with the following dates to be followed.
- Champions League last-16: August 7-8
- Champions League quarter-finals: August 12-15
- Champions League semi-finals: August 18-19
- Champions League final: August 23
Will Fans be in Attendance?
All the domestic leagues that have returned to play have done so with games played behind closed doors. UEFA have stated that if a decision had to be made today, the Champions League would follow the same format. There is still plenty of time to decide whether or not fans will be allowed to take in this tournament, with the final decision set to be announced before July 10.
