Champions League & Europa League: Tournaments to be completed in 'final eight' format

Estadio da LuzImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Benfica's Estadio da Luz will host the Champions League final

This season's Champions League and Europa League competitions will be completed in August with 'final eight' tournaments in Lisbon, Portugal and in cities across Germany.

The Women's Champions League will also be a knockout tournament, in northern Spain between 21 to 30 August.

Competitions were suspended in March because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Uefa also confirmed that all 12 original host cities will stage matches in the delayed Euro 2020 finals.

That competition will now start on 11 June 2021. The outstanding play-off matches will be staged during the international windows starting on 8 October and 12 November, respectively.

The club competitions will be played behind closed doors as it stands, but Aleksander Ceferin, the association's president, did not discount the reintroduction of fans.

"A month ago I couldn't even answer if we can play the competition - now we will play, hopefully," he said.

"We haven't decided about no spectators or spectators yet. We will assess the situation at the beginning of July, then we will see what the situation will be. It would be incompetent for us to decide in advance about a situation that is so unsure at this moment."

Champions League schedule

7 August

Last 16 second legs

8 August

Last 16 second legs

12 August

Quarter-final

13 August

Quarter-final

14 August

Quarter-final

15 August

Quarter-final

18 August

Semi-final

19 August

Semi-final

23 August

Final

The Champions League will resume with the second-leg of the remaining last 16 games played on 7 and 8 August - Manchester City have yet to play their home leg against Real Madrid, Chelsea are away at Bayern Munich, Juventus are home to Lyon and Napoli are at Barcelona. Uefa said it has yet to decide whether to host the matches at the home grounds or at a neutral venue.

The subsequent knockout rounds will be single-leg affairs and will be hosted in Lisbon between 12 to 23 August. The final has been scheduled for 23 August in the Portuguese capital.

Istanbul, originally appointed to stage the 2020 final, will now host the 2021 final.

The Europa League will resume from 10 August. The remaining last 16 games will be played on 5 and 6 August.

Uefa said: "A decision will be made in due course on whether these matches for which the first leg has already been played will be staged at the home team's venue or in Germany.

"Inter Milan v Getafe and Sevilla v Roma, whose first leg was also postponed, will be played as a single leg at a venue to be confirmed."

Gdansk, the original host for the final, will now stage next year's climax.

Europa League schedule

5 August

Last 16

6 August

Last 16

10 August

Quarter-final

11 August

Quarter-final

16 August

Semi-final

17 August

Semi-final

21 August

Final

The Women's Champions League, where Arsenal and Glasgow City have already reached the last eight, will be held in Bilbao and San Sebastian between 21 and 30 August. The final will be in San Sebastian on 30 August.

Uefa added: "The finals of the coming years will take place in Gothenburg (2021), Turin (2022) and Eindhoven (2023) as originally planned."