The decision on Tuesday the 17th of March made by UEFA will see the postponement of the 2020 European Championship. The tournament will now take place in the summer of 2021 following the completion of next season.
However, that still leaves this seasons leagues and cups to be completed and UEFA said they are happy to allow competitions to run until the 30th of June.
Much attention has been given to domestic competitions such as the English Premier League and the Italian Serie but what about European tournaments such as the Champions League and Europa League?
📅 Carlos Tévez #OTD in ________⚽️#UCL | #OnThisDay | @juventusfcen pic.twitter.com/1f6TiNFNen— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) March 18, 2020
📅 Carlos Tévez #OTD in ________⚽️#UCL | #OnThisDay | @juventusfcen pic.twitter.com/1f6TiNFNen
The Champions League is currently over halfway through the round of 16 stage, with Paris Saint-Germain, Atalanta, RB Leipzig and Atletico Madrid having book their places in the quarter-final. The Europa League is also at the round of 16 stage with many of the first legs already completed. There is no doubt that UEFA want to complete both the Champions League and Europa League this season but with time running out what are the options?
One option which has been discussed is to make every round remaining up until the final just one leg instead of the usual two legs. This would mean the quarter-final and semi-final of need Champions League and Europa League would be played over one leg. The main issue with this arrangement would be which team gets to play at home as they would be handed a significant advantage.
However, perhaps the issue of home advantage can be removed by playing the remaining games as a small tournament hosted by a single venue. The Champions League and Europa League finals are always one off games played at a single venue which in most cases is a neutral stadium. This season, the Champions League final is due to take place in Istanbul and the Europa League final is due to take place in Gdansk.
Using the mini tournament format, all remaining teams in each competition will travel to the one venue and play one off matches until we have two teams remaining. The two teams will then compete in the final as they would have done if the competitions had run normally. This seems like a good idea as at least it will be the same for every team and no single team will have an advantage of playing at home for a one off match.
UEFA, the European Club Association, European Leagues and FIFPRO Europe today signed a joint resolution on the principles of a contingency plan regarding the 2019-20 season. The principles include details on the completion of national team and club competitions…— UEFA (@UEFA) March 17, 2020
UEFA, the European Club Association, European Leagues and FIFPRO Europe today signed a joint resolution on the principles of a contingency plan regarding the 2019-20 season. The principles include details on the completion of national team and club competitions…
Perhaps the only issue with this will be the money clubs will be missing out on from staging home games. With most of the teams who are remaining in the Champions League and Europa League currently not playing at all, the ticket sale money received from playing home games in these competitions would be very welcome. Maybe UEFA will use the ticket sales from the one off games to give the clubs a slice of the revenue but it will not be close to what they would usually receive.
UEFA will be holding an additional meeting to the one on Tuesday and they are expected to discuss their options in terms of finishing the Champions League and Europa League this season.