UEFA has announced that this season’s Champions League, suspended in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will resume on August 7th and be completed with an eight-team mini-tournament which will take place in Lisbon. UEFA deputy general secretary Giorgio Marchetti made the confirmation after an executive committee meeting held by video conference. The quarter-finals and semi-finals will be played over one leg, instead of the usual two, with the final to be held on Aug. 23. There are still four outstanding round-of-sixteen fixtures to be played. These ties are Real Madrid v Manchester City, Juventus v Lyon, Napoli v Barcelona and Chelsea v Bayern Munich. The fixtures will take place on Aug. 7/8, either at the originally scheduled venues or in Portugal.
Paris St Germain, Atletico Madrid, Atalanta, and RB Leipzig have already qualified for the quarter-finals. The plan allows for 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.