Finals of Eight in August: Champions League and Europa League will be played in Portugal and Germany

Champions League for the first time in its history will be played in the format of “Final Eight.” This decision was made by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) following a meeting of the executive committee. At each stage, the tournament participants will play one match. All games will be held in Lisbon at the Estadio da Lush and Jose Alvalade stadiums.

Four teams have already reached the Final Eight. These are Paris Saint-Germain, Atlético, Leipzig and Atalanta. Eight more clubs are expected to play back matches of the 1/8 finals, revealing the remaining four teams. The struggle continues in pairs - Napoli and Barcelona (first match - 1: 1), Chelsea and Bayern (0: 3), Lyon and Juventus (1: 0), Real Madrid ”And“ Manchester City ”(1: 2).

The second matches between these pairs will be held on August 7 and 8.

The decision on where they will take place has not yet been made. These will be either the stadiums that were originally supposed to host the games, or the Dragao arenas in Porto and the Afonso Enriques in Guimaraes.

At the same time, the “Final Eight” will be held from August 12 to 23. Quarter finals - from August 12 to 15. Semifinal games are scheduled for the 18th and 19th. The final will end the Euro Cup season on August 23.

The two-match playoff format has been an invariable part of European competitions throughout almost the entire history. Only once before the current season was the Champions League finalist determined with one game. This happened in the 1993/94 season, when the semi-final meetings were hosted by teams taking first place in the group stage. Then, “Milan” and “Barcelona” did not have to come to visit “Monaco” and “Port” in order to continue the struggle for reaching the final after home victories.

All cities that previously had the opportunity to host the decisive matches of the Champions League will reserve this right, but they will have to wait another year. The final of 2021 will take place in Istanbul at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium, in 2022 the turn of the St. Petersburg Gazprom Arena will begin, and in 2023 and 2024 the Munich Alliance Arena and the London Wembley.

With regard to the Europa League, it was also decided to use the Final Eight format. All games will be held in Germany in Cologne, Duisburg, Dusseldorf and Gelsenkirchen from August 10 to 21 - this choice of cities is due to their proximity to each other.

This mini-tournament will be preceded by games of the 1/8 finals. Six pairs of participants need to hold return matches on August 5 and 6, which will take place either where it was originally planned, or in Germany. Two duets - “Inter” with “Getafe” and “Seville” with “Roma”, who did not have time to play the games at this stage, will have to determine the holder of a ticket to the next round only after one meeting.

The winners of the Champions League and the Europa League will be able to challenge the UEFA Super Cup. The match for this trophy will take place on September 24 at the Puskas Arena stadium in Budapest, which replaced Dragao in Porto. All the following similar games will take place where they should, so in 2023 Kazan will host the UEFA Super Cup.

The UEFA Executive Committee also decided to allow teams to replace up to three players in their applications for European competitions, however, it will be possible to include only those players who were signed before February 3, 2020. During the matches themselves, as in the national championships, it will be possible to make up to five substitutions.

In the next season, Eurocups will generally retain their format, but the qualifying stages of the Champions League and the Europa League will consist of one match. An exception was made only for the playoff round - in it teams will continue to play two games each. The group stage of the two tournaments will begin on October 20, and end on December 10.

In autumn, players will find a busy schedule of matches of national teams. The October and November windows will not consist of two games, as it was before, but of three. In addition to meetings within the group stage of the League of Nations, national associations will also have to hold two friendly matches. In October and November, there will also be a draw of the last four tickets to Euro 2020, for which 16 teams continue to fight.