The 2019/20 UEFA Champions League resumes on the 7th of August and there have been some major changes to the format of the competition. Due to the outbreak of coronavirus, the Champions League was postponed and it will now conclude with a shortened tournament, starting with the remaining Round of 16 matches.
There are four games to be played in the Round of 16 stage. They are all second legs of two leg ties and will be played at the home teams venue as originally planned. However, there will be no fans in attendance at any of the four matches and that will apply for the remainder of the competition. Following the completion of the Round of 16, there will be four quarter-final games and they will be played in Portugal. These will be one off matches and the winners will progress to the semi-final, which will again be one off games.
The UEFA Champions League draw is complete! 🙌Who will lift the trophy next month? 🏆🤔#UCLdraw pic.twitter.com/h7hYwKWw2K— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) July 10, 2020
The UEFA Champions League draw is complete! 🙌Who will lift the trophy next month? 🏆🤔#UCLdraw pic.twitter.com/h7hYwKWw2K
We already know four of the teams competing in the quarter-final and they are Atalanta, Paris Saint-Germain, RB Leipzig, and Atletico Madrid. Of the remaining Round of 16 games, Bayern Munich are the clear favourites to progress but Barcelona, Juventus and Manchester City still have work to do. Juventus need to overturn a 1-0 away defeat at Lyon, Barcelona picked up a 1-1 draw in Naples while Manchester City hold a 2-1 lead from their first leg at Real Madrid in Spain.
The match between Manchester City and Real Madrid could be the pick of the remaining Round of 16 games. Despite having this potentially difficult game against the current Spanish champions, Manchester City remain the joint favourites with the bookmakers to win the Champions League this season. Pep Guardiola’s team ended their Premier League campaign strongly but did not win the title. Therefore, Manchester City will be determined to win the Champions League this season but face a difficult path to the final.
Having overcome Real Madrid, the likelihood is they are going to have to meet Italian champions Juventus in the quarter-final before playing either Barcelona or Bayern Munich. It is a tough ask especially as Bayern Munich, the current German champions have had an extended break following the completion of the Bundesliga and looked superb in winning the title.
Bayern Munich cruised past Chelsea in the away leg of their Round of 16 tie and should have little trouble seeing out the tie at home. That leaves them with a meeting in the quarter-final against Napoli or Barcelona and Bayern have looked much stronger than both of those teams since the resumption of football in Europe.
The other half of the draw features Paris Saint-Germain, who will see this as the perfect opportunity to reach the Champions League final. They will play Italian club Atalanta in the quarter-final and although the Italians have been performing well this season both domestically and in Europe, PSG start as the clear favourites. PSG have enjoyed an extended rest following the cancellation of Ligue 1 and will not be fazed by either Atletico Madrid or RB Leipzig in the semi-final.
There is a strong possibility we could see a Bayern Munich vs Paris Saint-Germain final this season and that would an exciting way to finish the campaign.