Uefa to decide Champions League and Europa League conclusions next week

Finals were originally scheduled to be played in Istanbul and Gdansk, respectively

Uefa is set to decide next week on how to conclude this season’s Champions League and Europa League competitions, which have been put on hold since March because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Uefa said in a statement on Thursday that its executive committee would meet in a video conference on 17 June, with an agenda including “round-of-16 onwards and related determinations” for both competitions.

The Champions League final was originally scheduled to be played in Istanbul and the Europa League showpiece in Gdansk, Poland, but last month Uefa said “a variety of options” were being looked at for completing the two competitions.

These options could include playing the remaining stages of each competition in a single venue and reducing the quarter-final and semi-final ties to one leg instead of two, in a format resembling the World Cup.

The second legs of four Champions League last-16 ties still need to be played, while Atletico Madrid, Paris Saint Germain, Atalanta and RB Leipzig have already booked their places in the last eight.

In the Europa League, two round-of-16 first-leg ties still have to be played, plus all second legs.

The mayor of Madrid said on Tuesday that the Spanish capital was in talks about hosting the Champions League final if it ends up being moved from Istanbul.

The meeting will also discuss the planned schedule and venues for Euro 2020, which has been postponed until 2021, and the dates for the play-off ties that were due to be played in March.

The 24-team competition will be held across 12 cities across the continent.

Reuters