The Champions will return in August... With a format change?

In spite of the crisis of the coronavirus, the football begins to show the head, and already go back to contest split in the big leagues. After the surrender of countries like Belgium, Holland or France, Germany gave the starting signal to those that want to try restart the season 2019-20, and after several weeks of trainings, recovered one of the pending days of the Bundesliga the past weekend.

While it observes attentively the development of the domestic championships, the UEFA looks for solutions for the international, that will have the next turn in the new calendar and have displaced to the month of August. Numerous sources take for granted that the days 1 and 2 will play the first crosses of the Europe League, and a week later, 8 and 9, the tournament already will coincide with the correct round of the Champions.

In the group of work that the maximum authority futbolística of the old continent forms beside the Association of Clubs (ECA) and the European Leagues (EPFL) there are several options on the table, and one of them is to restart this last championship with a format exprés. This version would opt for reducing the eliminatory to an only duel from quarter-finals with the aim to do fewer trips and diminish the risk of contagion, and besides would choose champion in a final to four that would celebrate , as it already was foreseen, in the headquarters chosen, that this year is Istanbul.

According to several means, this alternative generates consensus and is taking strength, but bumps with the interests of the television operators. Although this formula would subtract clashes but would treat to keep the tension, could not save a so delicate subject like the income. Fewer commitments is equal to less money, and this does not convince neither to the companies neither perhaps neither to the clubs, whose stability has remained touched.

In any case, the official decision could arrive from the next 17 June, after the meeting of the Executive Committee of the UEFA. The organism does not put hastes to choose the most suitable way, and postponed a videoconference that was foreseen for 27 May. In addition to the tournaments of clubs, also is necessary to concretise how will reorganise the Eurocopa and the Nations League, whose next edition is in doubt.

The Barça is very attentive to the decisions

The Barça is very attentive to the decisions on the calendar, because in brief will play it to him in LaLiga and the Champions. The Catalans are one of the groups that have to close his eliminatory of eighth of final, since after the 1-1 in Saint Paolo, the pandemia prevented that it measured to the Napoli in the Camp Nou. After finalising the domestic competition, the Barcelona could see forced to begin before that the rest in August.