Uefa clears air on Champions League format to be used in future

Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin says the ‘Final Eight’ format for the Champions League will not be repeated in future as the tournament will revert to its traditional fixture arrangement.

The inter-club competition changed the format this year after the coronavirus disrupted the schedule, causing a four-month break. All ties from the quarter-finals onwards are being played as one-off matches at a central location in Lisbon, Portugal.

Speaking to AFP on Thursday, Ceferin said it is “impossible” to find space for this “last-8 mini-tournament” in an already packed calendar.

“This tournament might be interesting in the future, but I don’t think we can do it, because the calendar is so dense,” he said.

“I don’t know where I can put a tournament for a week or two in May. I think it’s impossible.

“I am optimistic by nature, and I think that things will get better into next year and we will have normal football back, good old football with spectators, so we don’t have a Plan B.

“You have to know that until March we didn’t have any plan, and then we had a Plan B, Plan C, Plan D, so we will adapt, but I am sure the world cannot stop forever because of this virus.

“I expect a vaccine, as soon as possible I hope, so no, we don’t have a plan to do the same competition next year.”

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