On Tuesday, UEFA will meet with its 55 federations to discuss the Champions League and European leagues resuming once countries have the coronavirus pandemic under control. Reportedly, one of the plans is having the rest of the Champions League take place in August. The competition has been suspended indefinitely for weeks.
UEFA is considering an option where Champions League play would start back up on August 7-8, assuming domestic leagues are done by then, with the competition concluding at month's end, according to Sky Sport Italia.
The first week of the month would see the unfinished round of 16 clashes take place before the second week would begin with the quarterfinal round getting underway.
That first week would see Juventus host Lyon and Barcelona face Napoli. The format would remain two-leg affairs until the final. The quarterfinals would reportedly be Aug. 11-12 and Aug. 14-15, with the semifinals on Aug. 18-19 and Aug. 21-22. The final would still be in Istanbul, but it would take place on Aug. 29.
As a result, the 2020-21 Champions League group stage wouldn't begin until October -- a month later than usual.
Of course, this is just a possible course of action, and nothing has yet been officially decided. This plan would give clubs time to finish domestic seasons in July, but raises the question as to what exactly happens with players who have loan deals expiring. UEFA stated previously that players who have expiring contracts or loan deals would be covered until the season ends. If a player ends up playing on loan deep into August in the Champions League or Europa League, it would make for an interesting, short transition to their parent club depending on when the next domestic season would start.
The plan for Europa League would be similar to that of the Champions League, finishing up the round of 16 on Aug. 2-3 and having the final on Aug. 27.
