BE STILL YOUR beating hearts – tomorrow brings a couple of competition draws from Uefa HQ in Nyon, as the pairings for the latter stages of the Champions League and Europa League are determined.
While these draws are usually, ahem, drawn-out affairs, tomorrow’s will be of particular interest given the radical changes forced upon the competitions by the Covid-19 crisis.
Here’s a refresher of how the competitions will be finished, and what to look out for at tomorrow’s draw.
When’s the draw?
The Champions League draw is at 11am Irish time tomorrow, with the Europa League draw to follow an hour later.
You can watch it live on Virgin Media Sport.
Champions League
Remind me of the new format to the Champions League?
The competition is being finished as a ‘Final Eight’ competition in Lisbon, which is Uefaspeak for a blitz.
The games will be one-legged ties, with those level after extra-time settled by a penalty shoot-out. Each team will be permitted to use five substitutes.
When is it taking place?
The unplayed last-16 second legs will be played off on 7 and 8 August, with the quarter-finals slated for 12 to 15 August.
The semi-finals will take place on 18 and 19 August, ahead of the final on 23 August.
Some games will take place at Sporting’s Estadio Jose Alvalade.
The final will take place at Benfica’s Estadio da Luz.
What’s happening tomorrow?
There will be three draws tomorrow: one to determine the quarter-final pairings, a second for the semi-finals, and a third, largely pointless one to determine the ‘home’ side in the final. (This is important to Uefa for what they term “administrative” reasons.)
It will be an entirely open draw, so there’s no seeding, and clubs from the same country can meet each other.
Who’s in the draw?
Only four sides are definitely through to the quarter-finals at the moment: Atalanta, Atletico Madrid, RB Leipzig, and Paris Saint-Germain.
They’ll be joined by the winners of the unplayed last-16 second legs. Here’s a reminder of the state of play in those games, with the side supposed to be playing at home in the second leg listed first:
Manchester City 2-1 Real Madrid
Juventus 0-1 Lyon
Bayern Munich 3-0 Chelsea
Barcelona 1-1 Napoli
Will these sides actually get their home advantage?
Yep – Uefa confirmed so this evening. The last-16 games will be held at the respective home venues.
Europa League
Is the Europa League following the format of its big brother?
Broadly. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final of the Europa League are being staged across four cities in Germany: Gelsenkirchen, Duisburg, Dusseldorf and Cologne.
The final will be in Cologne.
When will the Europa League be staged?
The last-16 ties are down for 5 and 6 August, with the quarter-finals on 10 and 11 August.
The semi-finals are slated for 16 and 17 August, and the final for 21 August.
What’s happening tomorrow?
Copy and paste from above. Three draws – quarter-finals, semi-finals, and a third to assign the home team in the final.
And just like above, it’s an open draw, so clubs from the same country can be drawn together.
Who’s in the draw?
Nobody is guaranteed a place at the moment, as the last-16 ties have yet to be settled.
Those second legs will be played at the respective home venues.
Here’s the state of play, with the side playing at home in the second leg listed first:
Shaktar Donetsk 2-1 Wolfsburg
Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 Rangers
Wolves 1-1 Olympiakos
Manchester United 5-0 LASK
Basel 3-0 Eintracht Frankfurt
FC Copenhagen 1-0 Istanbul Basaksehir
Additionally, there are two last-16 ties whose first legs have not yet been played. These will be played as a one-legged tie in Germany.
Inter Milan v Getafe
Roma v Sevilla
Will there be fans at any of these games?
At the moment, no. Uefa ruled today that these games will go ahead behind closed doors.
Updated at 18.52 to include details on confirmed venues for last-16 ties.
