Will PSG and OL be able to fight for the end of the Champions League?

• If Ligue 1 can not resume before August, PSG and OL, they must fight for the end of the Champions League 2019/2020
• The two French clubs will not be entitled to any preparation match if UEFA maintains its decision to resume competition in early August depending on the progress of the pandemic
• Abroad, most of the championships are preparing to resume in June, which would cause a clear disadvantage for PSG and OL on the European front.

This is another side effect of the blow of bamboo inflicted by the government on French football. While the Prime Minister has prohibited any possibility of resumption, even behind closed doors, until the end of July included in the best of cases, Paris and Lyon find themselves in the same panade. Will the last two tricolor clubs entered in the European Cup be able to complete the 2019/2020 Champions League, and if so, under what conditions?

🎙 Statement by Nasser Al Khelaifi. The president of #PSG wants to finish the Champions League. The Parisian president is even ready to play abroad. #RMCsport pic.twitter.com/gYW7Y6KJ5J

PSG wants to play its quarter-final abroad

If Jean-Michel Aulas seems busier to fight domestically to give his club a chance to qualify for the next Europa League (OL is only 7th in L1 to date, and therefore not qualified if the final ranking was endorsed as is), Nasser-Al Khelaïfi, his Parisian counterpart, did not lose a second. Since PSG has 67 points ahead in the championship and not much to fear the end of the championship apart from a big bundle of sorrel, the president of PSG drew faster than Lucky Luke on Tuesday evening:

"We respect the decision of the French government. With the agreement of UEFA, we intend to participate in the final phase of the Champions League at the places and dates where it will be organized. If it is not possible to play in France, we will play our matches abroad while ensuring the best health security conditions for our players and all our staff. "

So effective that he even cut the grass under his feet at Christmas Le Graët, yet he too cleated with our colleagues from the Telegram . Note that from a regulatory point of view, there is nothing to oppose it. UEFA planned at its last executive committee on 23 April for the case of a championship which should stop because of "the existence of an official order prohibiting sporting events which prevents the completion of competitions before a date which would allow the current season to be closed in time so that the current season can be launched. " A little abstruse at first reading, but relatively clear in the revoyure. The L1 having no choice, UEFA will see nothing wrong with it and will not sanction anyone. By delving a little into the internal regulations for European competitions, we also note that a club entered in C1 can quite well play its matches abroad, depending on the option that the Parisian president seems to be considering.

Under Article 24, the regulations provide that “exceptionally, the UEFA administration may accept a place situated in the territory of another UEFA member association, if no other suitable place exists. 'is available in the territory of the association of the host club. If the association and the club are unable to offer an acceptable replacement stadium within the deadlines set by the UEFA administration, UEFA may choose a neutral replacement stadium. The club concerned must take all the necessary measures for the organization of the match with the association concerned and the local authorities ”.

UEFA should have no complaints

The way is clear if we trust the texts, so, and even if it were not the case, we imagine the organization that governs European competitions particularly conciliatory in these times of pandemic. Especially since we understood that everyone would play behind closed doors this season, which makes playing foreign games painless in terms of sports equity. But would that be good news for our valiant musketeers? Bof bof bof. The alternative calendar on which UEFA is working leaves little room for wild improvisations, if we believe the dates that have filtered so far.

• Round of 16 return between Juve and OL on August 7
• Quarter-finals on August 11/12, return August 14/15
• Semi-finals on August 18/19, return on August 21/22
• Final August 29

However, how to be competitive at the beginning of August if PSG and OL could not dispute only one official meeting? The Ministry of Sports has indeed indicated in addition to the speech of Edouard Philippe that it would not be possible, in all cases, to play before the end of July including in camera. At best, Parisians and Lyonnais will therefore have resumed collective training in June, with the only repetition of training matches with the reserve and probably some friendly matches outside the territory, when their foreign rivals may be much better armed than 'them.

The other major European clubs benefiting from the resumption of national championships?

Among the other major championships, only Italy, the first country affected by the pandemic in Europe, has closed the floodgates of football as firmly as France. Sunday evening, the head of the Italian government Giuseppe Conte authorized from May 4 the resumption of individual training for athletes practicing individual sports. However, for team sports, the recovery was set "at best" on May 18, according to the Minister of Sports Vincenzo Spadafora. "A discriminatory and illogical measure" according to the Italian union of football players, which says it hopes "rapid intervention by the government" to correct what it calls "obvious distortion", while the Serie A clubs have recently spoken unanimously in favor of a resumption of the season.

The 🇪🇸 will do everything it takes to be deemed vital to #Liga even behind closed doors.
TVs are working on a new + interactive way of filming.
Forecast:
May 4: Individual training
11/5: Small group sessions
26/5: Normal training
Resumption of matches June 7 or 14 behind closed doors🤞🤞🤞

While waiting to see if this pressure stroke will work on the other side of the Alps, Germany and Spain are in the starting blocks. The Bundesliga has already worked on a plan to resume games in early May, and the first political signals are filtering the idea of ​​a return to competition at the end of next month. In Madrid, the head of government Pedro Sanchez officially launched phase one of the deconfinement plan, which will allow among other things "the resumption of individual training for professional and national level athletes, and basic training within professional leagues". In England, finally, voices are pushing in the government of Boris Johnson for a recovery in early June, and certain clubs like Arsenal or West Ham have already reopened their training center for players despite drastic standards.

Premier League clubs in uproar over Project Restart as safety fears threaten to scupper English football's plans to restart on June 8 | @garyjacob @martynziegler @Lawton_Times https://t.co/mlyPRxXU7I

So many decisions that can be questioned depending on the evolution of the pandemic, as also the desire of UEFA to finish at all costs the current editions of the Champions League and the Europa League. But if we managed to resume European football this summer, a great hope when you think about it, PSG and OL would face the gratin in flip flops and tap, take it or leave it. So ?

Sport

Coronavirus: Graët confirms the cessation of L1 even before the LFP's decision

• Jean-Michel Aulas
• Champions League
• OL
• Sport
• Coronavirus
• Soccer
• Nasser Al-Khelaïfi
• PSG