UEFA changes to 2020-21 Champions & Europa Leagues

A conference will be held by UEFA regarding the 2020-21 Champions League and Europa League scheduling.

France and Holland have banned all public gatherings until September.

The Bundesliga is set to resume on Saturday – it’s unclear what will happen if any player tests positive for Covid-19 once the action returns.

Qualification for Champions League

UEFA are planning to change their qualification rounds for the 2020-21 Champions League and plans to cut down the qualifiers significantly.

The Times note that the following motions are on the table:

– Playing one-legged qualification rounds instead of two legs

– Alternatively, playing a one play-off round for the Champions League involving the national champions of 12 highest-ranked countries who do not have a club already in the group stage

– Staging matches on neutral venues

If UEFA adopt the second proposal, then Celtic could face a do-or-die match to determine whether they qualify for the 2020-21 Champions League.

The 32 clubs who qualified for the group stage of the Champions League received a group stage allocation of $17m, plus an additional $3m per win and $990,000 per draw. Celtic are yet to be crowned Scottish champions as it remains unclear whether the 2019-20 SPFL will finish.

Europa League

The qualification rules for the 2020-21 Europa League are also destined to change, due to the specifics of how UEFA plan to change the qualifiers are far cloudier. The Times report:

The issue is much more complicated for the Europa League, where only 17 of the 48 clubs in the group stage qualify directly from domestic competitions. Among English clubs that includes the FA Cup winner and the team finishing fifth in the Premier League.