Champions League

UEFA has a plan to finish the 2019-20 season by August, including the Champions League and Europa League campaigns, the European soccer governing body's president Aleksander Ceferin has said. 

The majority of European league seasons were suspended in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic but a few leagues have announced plans for a restart in the coming weeks. 

The French and Dutch top-flight campaigns have been cancelled but the German Bundesliga restarted on Saturday and Ceferin expects at least 80% of national leagues to finish their seasons. 

Sergiño Dest, like most footballers around the world, hasn’t played a competitive match since March. At 19, Dest was enjoying a breakout season at Ajax before soccer shut down across Europe. At a time when the USMNT fullback was showing his immense potential, the campaign came to an abrupt end as the Dutch league canceled the season without a champion, despite Ajax sitting top of the table.

Fortunately for Dest, his season didn’t end without some hardware. 

Of the four teams that’ve already booked their place in the Champions League quarterfinals, no side is as feared as Paris Saint-Germain. In the UCL, PSG’s remarkable front three of Neymar, Kylian Mbappé and Mauro Icardi have combined for 13 goals and six assists in eight games. 

According to midfielder Ander Herrera, having “two of the top five players in the world” in Neymar and Mbappé gives PSG every right to believe they can lift Old Big Ears in Istanbul.

On April 1, 2020, the Champions League was suspended until further notice due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Four second leg Round of 16 fixtures had been completed, but four remained to be played, including Juventus vs. Lyon in Turin following the French club’s shocking 1-0 first leg victory.

Sporting events in the Netherlands will have to take place without fans in attendance until there is a vaccine for the novel coronavirus, Health Minister Hugo de Jonge said. 

The global pandemic has infected over 41,000 people in the Netherlands and caused 5,288 deaths. 

Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Wednesday organized sport could resume from Sept. 1, but de Jonge said mass gatherings would not be allowed until a vaccine had been developed. 

Former Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta celebrated the 11th anniversary of his famous Champions League semi-final strike against Chelsea by calling two children conceived after his tie-clinching goal.

Barcelona were two minutes from being eliminated from the Champions League in a tense second leg at Stamford Bridge on May 6, 2009, when Iniesta collected a pass from Lionel Messi and stroked the ball into the top corner from outside the box.

One of my most unpopular opinions is that PSG’s 4-0 victory over Barcelona in the first leg of their 2016-17 Champions League Round of 16 tie was more impressive than La Remontada. In the face of what happened at the Camp Nou, everyone forgets just how devastating PSG was three weeks prior at the Parc des Princes.

FIFA has proposed that teams should be allowed to make up to five substitutions per match, instead of the usual three, as a temporary measure to help cope with potential fixture congestion in the aftermath of the novel coronavirus outbreak. 

Football has been at a standstill since mid-March but many leagues and federations are still hoping to complete the season but to do so they would have to cram fixtures into a shorter period than usual once play re-starts.

European football, currently at a standstill because of the coronavirus, is focusing on a restart in July and August with clubs and leagues being told that stopping competitions should "really be the last resort." 

UEFA indefinitely suspended the Champions League, Europa League and Euro 2020 qualifying playoffs on Wednesday in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

UEFA posted on its website that "all national team matches for men and women due to be played in June 2020 are postponed until further notice. This includes the playoff matches for UEFA EURO 2020 and qualifying matches for UEFA Women's EURO 2021."