Three months after it was suspended due to the situation caused by Covid-19, the Champions League took its first concrete steps to return on Wednesday when officials from the European football governing body, UEFA, announced that the competition would be completed as an eight-team knockout tournament in August. In Portugal.

Many details for the event, from the lineup of teams that will play to health protocols to avoid contagion between players and staff members, have not been finalized. All plans and procedures are subject to change. UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin said he still did not see a reason for a Plan B and noted that the organization was evaluating the situation on a daily basis.

At this time, fans will not be allowed to participate in any of the games, depending on the government’s limits in public meetings, which could create a situation in which the final stages of the tournament.

Unlike the Premier League or NBA, UEFA had to find a way to restart a partially completed international competition in which some teams had advanced more than others, and to complete it amid continued restrictions on travel between territories and strict quarantine rules.

Starting on August 7, the second leg matches will be played, the clashes will be: Manchester City-Real Madrid, Juventus-Lyon, Barcelona-Naples and Bayern Munich-Chelsea. If they cannot be held in their respective cities, they will move to the Portuguese cities of Porto and Guimaraes.

Then the qualifiers will join Atlético Madrid, Atalanta, Leipzig and PSG in the ‘Final 8’ to be played in Lisbon, the Portuguese capital, where unique matches will be played to meet the finalists. The quarterfinals will be played on August 12 and 15, then the semifinals will come (18 and 19) and the final will be on Sunday, August 23.

Source: UEFA

source: The new york times

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