Champions League 2020 May Resume In August

The UEFA Executive Committee will meet next Thursday to discuss proposals for the conclusion of the Champions League competition.  We understand that the Final, originally planned for the end of May, may instead take place on Saturday 29 August in the original venue, the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul.

The tournament was postponed on 23 March with only four matches of the round of 16 second leg ties remaining, including Manchester City’s match against Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium, and Chelsea’s away game against Bayern Munich.  

It is thought that UEFA will aim to hold the concluding matches of the round of 16 in early July and then the Quarter Finals from July 27/28 but the timetable for completion of the tournament will need to take into account the state of play in domestic leagues across Europe, all of which are also currently suspended.  The Premier League is meeting this week to decide when to re-start the domestic season and this will be factored into the UEFA decision-making process.  

We understand that, if domestic leagues are not resumed until late June/July – which would present severe financial and practical difficulties for all concerned – a further option that UEFA will consider is to hold a tournament at the end of August during which all the remaining Champions League games will be played.  

Manchester City remain favourites to lift the trophy, with best odds of 3/1 but Bayern Munich and PSG are not far behind in the reckoning with odds of 13/4 and 17/4 respectively, all betting odds on offer from bookmakers 888 Sport.  The only other remaining English side still in the competition is Chelsea but the Blues are not fancied to win, with odds a whopping 500/1 on offer from Skybet following their three-goal home defeat at home to Bayern Munich in the 1st leg of their last 16 tie.