UEFA has reportedly started working on a new calendar to aid the completion of this season's Champions League. The revelation was made following a video meeting between officials of European football's governing body and relevant club presidents on Wednesday.
Back in March, the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus led to the suspension of the Champions League. Before the brakes were put on the competition, half of the matches in the Round of 16 had been played. Paris Saint-Germain, Atalanta, Atletico Madrid, and RB Leipzig qualified at the expense of Borussia Dortmund, Valencia, Liverpool, and Tottenham Hotspur respectively.
Four more last 16-second leg matches remain to be played: Bayern Munich vs Chelsea, Manchester City vs Real Madrid, Juventus vs Lyon and Barcelona vs Napoli. According to French news outlet RMC, the plan to complete the competition was endorsed by UEFA officials and club heads via video-conference on Wednesday.
It was decided that the remaining matches of the competition will be played in August. As claimed by RMC Sport, the Round of 16 encounter between Juventus and Lyon has been provisionally slated for August 8.
Meanwhile, there has not been any word on the format to be adopted for the quarter-finals and the other knockout rounds. Reports suggest that due to the nature of the pandemic, the two-legged affairs can be scrapped to become single-leg clashes potentially staged at neutral venues.
