Various media houses in Europe reported today that the Champions League would see its ending in an unusual format, which includes an eight-team tournament. Also, the venue would be Lisbon instead of Istanbul.
According to all the media involved in this story, the UEFA should announce the new format and all the other information important for this project on June 17. Eight quarterfinalists will reportedly play their matches at two stadiums in Lisbon, Jose Alvelade, and La Luz.
It is still not known, but it is expected that the matchups see just one game. UEFA considers that fair because neither side has a home-field advantage. That was one of the reasons why Lisbon became the host of the tournament. The Portuguese capital was picked before Frankfurt and Moscow.
Frankfurt was declined because Germany already has one representative in the quarterfinals (RB Leipzig), and will probably have another one (Bayern). Playing in its own country would be an advantage over other teams, and the European House of football didn’t want to allow that.
Moscow was rejected because of the rapid growth of the COVID-19 infected. The UEFA didn’t want to risk anything, and after all, one of the main reasons why they decided to take the organization from Istanbul was COVID-19 pandemics.
So far, four teams have advanced to the quarterfinals. Red Bull Leipzig defeated Tottenham in two games, Atalanta eliminated Valencia, PSG was better than Borussia Dortmund, and Atletico Madrid shocked the European champions, Liverpool, stopping them in the extra times at Anfield.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uE35wW7wKLU
The remaining four pairs will give four more teams. The no. 1 candidate for winning the UCL, Manchester City has a 1-2 advantage from Madrid against Real, and has nice chances to progress further. Barcelona plays with Napoli in Spain, with the first match ending 1-1. Bayern Munich demolished Chelsea, slamming the Blues 0-3 at Stamford, and displaying their fantastic attack.
The most interesting rematch will be the one between Juventus and Lyon, as the Old Lady comes in with a one-goal deficit from the opening leg. Cristiano Ronaldo and the boys lost 1-0 in France and now have to claw their way back from this tough situation.
