With the UEFA Champions League (UCL) set to restart on August 8, 2020, after a whopping gap of 149 days, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the last match being played on March 12, 2020, here is a list of five things to know:
- The rest of the 2nd leg fixtures will be played on August 7 and August 8, 2020, with pending confirmation whether the matches will be played in the respective home stadiums or at Lisbon, Portugal, where all the fixtures from there on will be taking place in the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica and Estádio José Alvalade.
- The Quarter-Final draw has already taken place on July 10, 2020, with four teams already qualified, with Kick-off time set at 12:30 AM (IST), the fixtures are:
- Atalanta vs PSG on Thursday, August 13, 2020.
- RB Leipzig vs Atlético on Friday, August 14, 2020.
- Napoli/FC Barcelona vs Chelsea FC/ FC Bayern on Saturday, August 15, 2020.
- Real Madrid/Manchester City vs Lyon/Juventus on Sunday, August 16, 2020.
- The format has changed from the standard two-legged games to a single-leg tie in both quarter-finals and semi-finals, where the teams will be heading to extra-time and then penalty kicks if the game ends in a tie at the end of 90 minutes.
- Teams will now be permitted to make five substitutions instead of the standard three. Plus, one additional substitution will be allowed, if the game head into extra time.
- The Semi-Finals will take place on 19 & 20 August 2020, followed by a 3-day rest before the finals, which will take place on August 24, 2020, at the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica with kick-off time set at 12:30 AM (IST).
With the former champions Liverpool being eliminated, a new team is set to be crowned the champions of Europe, with crunch fixtures set and new format being implemented. This competition should be even more interesting than usual.