UEFA suspended the Champions League indefinitely during round off stage in March along with Europa League, Women’s Champions League and Youth League as a consequence of coronavirus pandemic.
The body then found a way of completing the 2019/20 season with a revised schedule that interfered with that of it next terms’.
To go with the current season which proved to have spanned over the normal time scheduled for the rounds to hold, UEFA has reacted to this change by applying a paradigm shift to next season champions league schedule also.
The European football governing body announced that schedule for 2020/21 Champions League season will kick off in October with the group stages running from October 20 through December 9.
The knockout stages will commence in 2021 from February 16 till May 29 when the grand finale will be played in Istanbul.
In view of this, a reformed and complete calendar has been released by UEFA alongside all the changes made and those that remained fixed.
What are the changes?
With the 2019/20 season now scheduled to finish on 23 August, the principal change to the 2020/21 calendar is that everything is now a little later.
Qualifying, which had been due to begin on 23 June, will now kick off on 8 August, with the group stage draw in Athens on 1 October and the competition proper getting under way on 20 October.
All qualifying ties will be single-leg matches before reverting to home and away fixtures for the play-offs.
The knockout stages will be unchanged from the original schedule.
The final will take place at Istanbul’s Atatürk Olympic Stadium, which had been due to stage the 2020 decider. Saint Petersburg, the prospective 2021 host, will now stage the 2022 event.
When will matches take place?
Qualifying
Preliminary round
08/08/2020 – 11/08/2020
First qualifying round
18/08/2020 – 19/08/2020
Second qualifying round
25/08/2020 – 26/08/2020
Third qualifying round
15/09/2020 – 16/09/2020
Play-offs
22/09/2020 – 30/09/2020
Group stage
Matchday 1
20/10/2020 – 21/10/2020
Matchday 2
27/10/2020 – 28/10/2020
Matchday 3
03/11/2020 – 04/11/2020
Matchday 4
24/11/2020 – 25/11/2020
Matchday 5
01/12/2020 – 02/12/2020
Matchday 6
08/12/2020 – 09/12/2020
Knockout stages
Round of 16
16/02/2021 – 17/03/2021
Quarter-finals
06/04/2021 – 14/04/2021
Semi-finals
27/04/2021 – 05/05/2021
Final
29/05/2021
