UCL Champions League final UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League

There has been a buzz that UEFA is planning to shift the Champions League and Europa League venues including the finals as they look to reformat the tournament for the remaining matches.

The Champions League final is still set to be played in Istanbul while the Europa League final is scheduled to be held in Gdansk and the Turkish government is still confident that their country will be able to hold the finals at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium.

“I don’t have any doubt that this final will take place in the best way in Turkey, we’re convinced that we’ll have good news on June 17,” said Turkish sports minister Mehmet Kasapoglu on Thursday.

But as per Sky Sports, UEFA are expected to choose Lisbon as the new destination for the remaining matches in the UCL.

The report claims: “Lisbon looks the favourite to host the final stages of the 2019/20 Champions League.

“The Portuguese capital is understood to be in contention to stage a condensed version of the tournament from the last eight onwards, with all ties to be played as single legs as UEFA seeks a solution for completing the competition amid the travel chaos caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

“The Portuguese city boasts two major stadiums in close proximity to each other – the Estadio da Luz and the Estadio Jose Alvalade.

“Istanbul may be compensated with the right to stage a future Champions League final, if the UEFA executive committee does decide Lisbon is the best option for this summer when it meets on June 17.”

Apart from the Champions League, the fate of the Europa League is also set to be decided in this meeting and as per Sky, the remaining matches in this competition could be shifted to either Frankfurt or Dusseldorf.

There are a few second-leg matches still to be played in either competition and some rumours claim these games could also be shifted to the new venues while others think the remaining Round of 16 games will be played as per the normal format and the changes will be brought about from the quarter-final stages.

The latest updates also claim that UEFA is planning to wrap up the current season by the end of August as they are targeting a mid-October start for the group stages of the 2020-21 Champions League.

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