Champions League

Some clarity on how soccer leagues in Europe plan to complete seasons that have been put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic is expected this week but there is likely to be a mixed bag of solutions with countries tugging in different directions.

Meetings set for the next few days will study how to resume the suspended campaigns, even though it will be difficult to come up with a definitive roadmap while the continent remains in the grip of the fast-spreading virus.

ROME — The head of European soccer's governing body said that the current season could be "lost" if it is unable to re-start by the end of June, although he did not rule out extending it into the next season.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica that there were a number of options for concluding the season, which has been brought to a halt around Europe by the coronavirus pandemic.

One of the great joys (unless you’re Juventus president Andrea Agnelli) of European competition is the annual group of overachievers that disrupts the established rule while playing some of the best football on the planet. In recent seasons, the leading examples have been Ajax (2018-19), Roma (2017-18) and Monaco (2016-17). 

This year, that title belongs to Atalanta, the team with Italy's 12th-highest wage bill. 

This season's Champions League, Europa League and women's Champions League finals scheduled for May have been formally postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic, European soccer's governing body UEFA said on Tuesday.

All three competitions are currently suspended along with almost every European domestic league because of the coronavirus while UEFA last week postponed the Euro 2020 tournament until next year. 

Jan Vertonghen's family was robbed at knifepoint in their London home while the Tottenham Hotspur defender was on Champions League duty against RB Leipzig in Germany on Tuesday night, the BBC reported. The report said police had confirmed that four men wearing balaclavas forced their way into the house while Vertonghen's wife and children were inside.

PARIS — Paris St Germain players climbed up a Parc des Princes stand overlooking the street where thousands of fans waited for them after they qualified for the Champions League quarterfinals in an empty stadium amid coronavirus fears on Wednesday.

The French champions beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 to secure a 3-2 aggregative victory and erase memories of embarrassing last-16 exits against Barcelona and Manchester United in 2017 and 2019.

Against all odds and wave after wave of pressure, Atlético has sent defending European champion Liverpool out of the Champions League, 4-2 on aggregate, but the Spanish side must largely thank Adrián for its magical night at Anfield. 

The opening 90 minutes couldn’t have gone any better for Liverpool on Wednesday — apart from the lone Reds goal on the scoreboard. After promising to improve on zero shots on target back at the Wanda, Liverpool finished regular time with 28 attempts — nine on target — 71 percent possession and more than twice as many completed passes as Atlético.

Neymar spent most of the first nine minutes of a crucial Champions League second leg against Borussia Dortmund on the floor. In a way, it was the best evidence of how much the match meant to him.

Neymar may or may not stay with PSG next season. In the meantime, it’s clear he is doing everything in his power to win the Champions League for his wealthy Qatari benefactors. 

Tyler Adams hasn’t had the best of starts to the 2019-20 campaign in Germany. The American, who turned 21 last month, has been in and out (mostly out) of the RB Leipzig lineup all season with various injuries.

But on Tuesday, Adams did something just nine Americans have ever done before: He appeared in a Champions League knockout-round match.

Even better, he did so in a convincing victory, as his RB Leipzig dusted Tottenham 3-0 on Tuesday and 4-0 on aggregate. And because we’re biased Americans, we’re going to give Adams credit for an assist on Leipzig’s third goal.

Over the past six months, Atalanta fans have been living the American soccer dream. The Bergamo-based club, despite tracing its existence back 112 years, has experienced a litany of firsts, bounced around different grounds and put its supporters through a sustained period of isolated loneliness. In the United States, we call this the New York City FC experience.