THE 2019/20 season will end with a huge three-week festival of football to crown the winners of the Champions League and Europa League.
And Man City, Chelsea, Manchester United and Wolves will all be taking part.
After the coronavirus pandemic cut short the European tournaments just as the latter stages began, they were pushed back to August.
Domestic competitions were given priority for football’s return with Uefa asking associations to wrap up their own leagues and cups by the end of July.
Authorities have also shifted both tournaments away from their usual two-legged clashes to a new streamlined format, finishing in neutral venues and behind closed doors to ensure maximum pandemic safety.
The Champions League will head to Portugal for completion at Lisbon’s Estadio da Luz and Estadio Jose Alvalade.
Meanwhile the Europa League is due to be completed in Germany with Cologne, Duisburg, Dusseldorf and Gelsenkirchen’s stadiums utilised – all situated in the country’s north-west.
Kicking the mini-tournament off will be the Europa League last-16 ties on August 5 and 6.
Six of the games have already completed their first legs and it remains to be seen whether the reverse ties will be allowed to finish in the previously designated home stadium.
Manchester City hold a 2-1 lead over Real Madrid after a vital win at the BernabeuCredit: PA:Press Association
A romp in Linz set Manchester United well on their way to the Europa League last-eightCredit: EPA
Likewise, the four Champions League last-16 ties yet to be completed are waiting to see where their second legs on August 7 and 8 will be held.
Chelsea travel to Bayern Munich, down 3-0, and Manchester City host Real Madrid with a 2-1 lead.
Already qualified for the last-eight are Atalanta, Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid and RB Leipzig.
In the Europa League, Wolves are 1-1 with Olympiacos and Manchester United boast a 5-0 headstart over LASK, while Roma versus Sevilla and Inter Milan versus Getafe will be reduced to one-legged affairs have not yet started because of the pandemic.
The Champions League quarter-finals will be spread out over four days, between August 12 and 15, after the Europa League equivalents on the two days previous.
After a day’s rest, the semi-finals begin with the Europa League’s set for August 16 and 17 before the premier competition’s ties.
On August 21, the Europa League final will be held at Cologne’s RheinEnergieStadion with United, Wolves, Bayer Leverkusen and Shakhtar Donetsk among the favourites to reach the showpiece event.
And the Champions League finishes off two days later at Estadio da Luz in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
