66th season of the UEFA club football tournament

International football contest
The 2020–21 UEFA Champions League was the 66th temper of Europe ‘s chancellor club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 29th season since it was renamed from the european Champion Clubs ‘ Cup to the UEFA Champions League.

Chelsea defeated Manchester City 1–0 in the final examination, which was played at the Estádio do Dragão in Porto, Portugal. The Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey, was primitively appointed to host the 2020 UEFA Champions League Final, but it was moved due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe to the Estádio district attorney Luz in Lisbon. [ 5 ] Istanbul was again appointed to host the final of the 2021 edition, but was finally moved to Estádio do Dragão after Turkey was placed on the United Kingdom ‘s red list for tourists and hosting it in England was ruled out. [ 6 ] Bayern Munich were the defend champions, but were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Paris Saint-Germain, whom they had beaten in the previous year ‘s final. As the winners of the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League, Chelsea played against Villarreal, the winners of the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League, in the 2021 UEFA Super Cup. They will besides be the european introduction for the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup. Since they had already qualified to the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League group stage through their league performance, the mooring originally reserved for the Champions League title holders has been transferred to the Champions of the 2020–21 Süper Lig, Beşiktaş, the 11th ranked affiliation according to the future season access-list. The 2020–21 temper was the final season of UEFA European clubhouse competitions to feature the away goals dominion. [ 7 ]

Association team allotment [edit ]

A full of 79 teams from 54 of the 55 UEFA member associations participate in the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League ( the exception being Liechtenstein, which does not organise a domestic league ). The association ranking based on the UEFA area coefficients is used to determine the number of participating teams for each association : [ 8 ]

  • Associations 1–4 each have four teams qualify.
  • Associations 5–6 each have three teams qualify.
  • Associations 7–15 each have two teams qualify.
  • Associations 16–55 (except Liechtenstein) each have one team qualify.
  • The winners of the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League and 2019–20 UEFA Europa League are each given an additional entry if they do not qualify for the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League through their domestic leagues. However, the Champions League and Europa League title holders have qualified through their domestic leagues, meaning the two additional entries are not necessary for this season.

Association rank [edit ]

For the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League, the associations are allocated places according to their 2019 UEFA country coefficients, which takes into account their performance in european competitions from 2014–15 to 2018–19. [ 9 ] apart from the allocation based on the state coefficients, associations may have extra teams participating in the Champions League, as noted below :

  • ( UCL ) – Additional berth for UEFA Champions League title holders
  • ( UEL ) – Additional berth for UEFA Europa League title holders

distribution [edit ]

The follow is the access list for this season. [ 10 ]

Access list for 2020–21 UEFA Champions League
Teams entering in this round Teams advancing from previous round
Preliminary round
(4 teams)
  • 4 champions from associations 52–55
First qualifying round
(34 teams)
  • 33 champions from associations 18–51 (except Liechtenstein)
  • 1 winner from preliminary round
Second qualifying round Champions Path
(20 teams)
  • 3 champions from associations 15–17
  • 17 winners from first qualifying round
League Path
(6 teams)
  • 6 runners-up from associations 10–15
Third qualifying round Champions Path
(10 teams)
  • 10 winners from second qualifying round (Champions Path)
League Path
(6 teams)
  • 3 runners-up from associations 7–9
  • 3 winners from second qualifying round (League Path)
Play-off round Champions Path
(8 teams)
  • 3 champions from associations 12–14
  • 5 winners from third qualifying round (Champions Path)
League Path
(4 teams)
  • 1 third-placed team from association 6
  • 3 winners from third qualifying round (League Path)
Group stage
(32 teams)
  • 11 champions from associations 1–11
  • 6 runners-up from associations 1–6
  • 5 third-placed teams from associations 1–5
  • 4 fourth-placed teams from associations 1–4
  • 4 winners from play-off round (Champions Path)
  • 2 winners from play-off round (League Path)
Knockout phase
(16 teams)
  • 8 group winners from group stage
  • 8 group runners-up from group stage

Changes were made to the default access list since the Champions League entitle holders, Bayern Munich, and the Europa League title holders, Sevilla, which were guaranteed berths in the Champions League group stage, already qualified for the Champions League group stage via their domestic leagues. however, as a result of schedule delays to both the 2019–20 and 2020–21 european seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020–21 european season started before the conclusion of the 2019–20 european season. consequently, the changes to the access tilt that should be made based on the Champions League and Europa League title holders could not be certain until matches of the earlier qualify rounds had been played and/or their draws had been made. UEFA used “ adaptive re-balancing ” to change the access list once the berths for the Champions League and Europa League title holders were determined, and rounds which had already been drawn or played by the time the title holders were determined would not be impacted ( Regulations Article 3.04 ). [ 8 ] The pursue changes were made :

  • At the time when the draws for the first qualifying round and second qualifying round (Champions Path) were held on 9 and 10 August 2020, it was not certain whether the Champions League title holder berth would be vacated as one of the eight quarter-finalists of the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League, Lyon, did not qualify for the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League group stage via their domestic league. Therefore, these draws proceeded as normal per the default access list, and the matches drawn, which were played on 18–19 and 25–26 August 2020, were not changed even though after the semi-finals of the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League, which were played on 18–19 August 2020, it was confirmed both finalists, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, already qualified for the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League group stage via their domestic leagues, meaning the Champions League title holder berth would be vacated. As a result, “adaptive re-balancing” started from the third qualifying round (Champions Path), whose draw was held on 31 August 2020, and the following changes to the access list were made:
    • The champions of association 11 (Netherlands), Ajax, entered the group stage instead of the play-off round (Champions Path).
    • The champions of associations 13 and 14 (Czech Republic and Greece), Slavia Prague and Olympiacos, entered the play-off round (Champions Path) instead of the third qualifying round (Champions Path).
  • At the time when the draw for the second qualifying round (League Path) was held on 10 August 2020, it was not certain whether the Europa League title holder berth would be vacated as four of the quarter-finalists of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Bayer Leverkusen, Copenhagen and Basel, did not qualify for the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League group stage via their domestic leagues. Therefore, this draw proceeded as normal per the default access list, and the matches drawn, which were played on 25–26 August 2020, were not changed even though after the quarter-finals of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League, which were played on 10–11 August 2020, it was confirmed all four semi-finalists, Sevilla, Manchester United, Internazionale and Shakhtar Donetsk, already qualified for the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League group stage via their domestic leagues, meaning the Europa League title holder berth would be vacated. As a result, “adaptive re-balancing” started from the third qualifying round (League Path), whose draw was held on 31 August 2020, and the following changes to the access list were made:
    • The third-placed team of association 5 (France), Rennes, entered the group stage instead of the third qualifying round (League Path).
    • The third-placed team of association 6 (Russia), Krasnodar, entered the play-off round (League Path) instead of the third qualifying round (League Path).

Teams [edit ]

In early April 2020, UEFA announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the deadline for entering the tournament had been postponed until further detect. [ 11 ] UEFA besides sent a letter to all penis associations that domestic leagues must be completed in full moon without ending prematurely in order to qualify for european competitions. [ 12 ] After meeting with the 55 UEFA associations on 21 April 2020, UEFA strongly recommended them to finish domestic top league and cup competitions, although in some special cases where it is not possible, UEFA would develop guidelines concerning participation in its club competitions in sheath of a cancel league or cup. [ 13 ] [ 14 ] After the UEFA Executive Committee meeting on 23 April 2020, UEFA announced that if a domestic competition is prematurely terminated for legitimate reasons in accordance with conditions related to populace health or economic problems, the national associations concerned are required to select their enter teams for the 2020–21 UEFA clubhouse competitions based on sporting merit in the 2019–20 domestic competitions, and UEFA reserves the right to refuse their admission if UEFA deems the end point of the competitions not legitimate, or the excerpt procedure not objective, diaphanous and non-discriminatory, or the team is perceived by the populace as qualifying unfairly. A suspend domestic contest may besides be restarted with a different format from the master one in a manner which would even facilitate qualification on sporting deserve. [ 15 ] [ 16 ] All leagues should communicate to UEFA by 25 May 2020 whether they intend to restart their competitions, [ 17 ] but this deadline was by and by extended. On 17 June 2020, UEFA announced that associations must enter their teams by 3 August 2020. [ 5 ] The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the space of its starting round :

  • TH: Champions League title holders
  • EL: Europa League title holders
  • 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.: League positions of the previous season
  • Abd-: League positions of abandoned season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe as determined by the national association; all teams are subject to approval by UEFA as per the guidelines for entry to European competitions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[18]

The second base qualify round, third base qualifying round and play-off round are divided into Champions Path ( CH ) and League Path ( LP ) .
Notes

schedule [edit ]

The schedule of the competition was as follows ( all draws were held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland unless differently stated ). [ 40 ] The tournament would originally have started in June 2020, but had been delayed to August due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. [ 41 ] The fresh schedule was announced by the UEFA Executive Committee on 17 June 2020. [ 42 ] All qualifying matches, excluding the play-off round, were played as single leg matches, hosted by one of the teams decided by string ( except the preliminary round which was played at neutral venue ). [ 5 ] [ 43 ] The group stage tie was primitively to be held at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens, Greece, but UEFA announced on 9 September 2020 that it would be relocated to Nyon, [ 44 ] but it was finally held at nearby Geneva .

Schedule for 2020–21 UEFA Champions League
Phase Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Qualifying Preliminary round 17 July 2020 8 August 2020 (semi-final round) 11 August 2020 (final round)
First qualifying round 9 August 2020 18–19 August 2020
Second qualifying round 10 August 2020 25–26 August 2020
Third qualifying round 31 August 2020 15–16 September 2020
Play-off Play-off round 1 September 2020 22–23 September 2020 29–30 September 2020
Group stage Matchday 1 1 October 2020
(Geneva) 		20–21 October 2020
Matchday 2 27–28 October 2020
Matchday 3 3–4 November 2020
Matchday 4 24–25 November 2020
Matchday 5 1–2 December 2020
Matchday 6 8–9 December 2020
Knockout phase Round of 16 14 December 2020 16–17 & 23–24 February 2021 9–10 & 16–17 March 2021
Quarter-finals 19 March 2021 6–7 April 2021 13–14 April 2021
Semi-finals 27–28 April 2021 4–5 May 2021
Final 29 May 2021 at Estádio do Dragão, Porto

The original schedule of the competition, as planned before the pandemic, was as follows ( all draws were to be held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, unless stated differently ) .

original agenda for 2020–21 UEFA Champions League
Phase Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Qualifying Preliminary round 9 June 2020 23 June 2020 (semi-final round) 26 June 2020 (final round)
First qualifying round 16 June 2020 7–8 July 2020 14–15 July 2020
Second qualifying round 17 June 2020 21–22 July 2020 28–29 July 2020
Third qualifying round 20 July 2020 4–5 August 2020 11 August 2020
Play-off Play-off round 3 August 2020 18–19 August 2020 25–26 August 2020
Group stage Matchday 1 27 August 2020
(Monaco) 		15–16 September 2020
Matchday 2 29–30 September 2020
Matchday 3 20–21 October 2020
Matchday 4 3–4 November 2020
Matchday 5 24–25 November 2020
Matchday 6 8–9 December 2020
Knockout phase Round of 16 14 December 2020 16–17 & 23–24 February 2021 9–10 & 16–17 March 2021
Quarter-finals 19 March 2021 6–7 April 2021 13–14 April 2021
Semi-finals 27–28 April 2021 4–5 May 2021
Final 29 May 2021 at Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic [edit ]

Krasnodar players on Matchday 2 group stage with limited capacity in the stands. due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the succeed particular rules were applicable to the competition : [ 45 ] [ 46 ]

  • If there were travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic that prevented the away team from entering the home team’s country or returning to their own country, the match could be played at a neutral country or the away team’s country that allowed the match to take place.
  • If a team refused to play or was considered responsible for a match not taking place, they were considered to have forfeited the match. If both teams refused to play or were considered responsible for a match not taking place, both teams were disqualified.
  • If a team had players and/or officials tested positive for SARS-2 coronavirus preventing them from playing the match before the deadline set by UEFA, they were considered to have forfeited the match.

On 24 September 2020, UEFA announced that five substitutions would be permitted from the group stage ahead, with a sixth allowed in excess time. however, each team was merely given three opportunities to make substitutions during matches, with a fourth opportunity in extra prison term, excluding substitutions made at half-time, before the beginning of extra time and at half-time in extra clock time. consequently, a maximal of twelve players could be listed on the substitute bench. [ 47 ] All qualifying matches were played behind closed doors. [ 43 ] Following the partial return of fans at the 2020 UEFA Super Cup, UEFA announced on 1 October 2020 that matches from the group degree forth could be played at 30 % capacity if allowed by the local authorities. [ 48 ] The final was in the first place scheduled to be played at the Krestovsky Stadium in Saint Petersburg, Russia. however, due to the delay and move of the 2020 concluding to Lisbon as a leave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the final examination hosts were shifted back a year, with the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey rather planning to host the 2021 final. [ 5 ] however, on 13 May 2021 UEFA announced that the concluding would be relocated to Porto in club to allow fans to attend the equal. [ 6 ]

preliminary round [edit ]

The drawing card for the preliminary round was held on 17 July 2020, 12:00 CEST. [ 49 ] The semi-finals were played on 8 August at the Colovray Stadium in Nyon, Switzerland. [ 50 ] The final examination was due to be played at the same venue on 11 August but the equal was cancelled due to Drita players being put into quarantine after two players had tested cocksure for SARS-2 coronavirus, and Linfield were awarded a technical 3–0 acquire .

The losers of both semi-final and concluding rounds entered the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League second base stipulate round of golf .

Qualifying rounds [edit ]

first base qualifying circle [edit ]

The draw for the first qualify orotund was held on 9 August 2020, 12:00 CEST. [ 55 ] The matches were played on 18 and 19 August 2020. The catch between KÍ and Slovan Bratislava was cancelled due to Slovan Bratislava players being put into quarantine after one musician had tested convinced for SARS-2 coronavirus, and KÍ were awarded a technical 3–0 gain .

The losers entered the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League second base qualify circle .

second qualify round [edit ]

The draw for the second qualify round was held on 10 August 2020, 12:00 CEST. [ 61 ] The matches were played on 25 and 26 August 2020.

From the ten losers of Champions Path, two teams, Tirana and Ludogorets Razgrad, determined by a draw apply on 31 August 2020 after the Europa League second qualifying round draw, [ 62 ] entered the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League play-off round ( Champions Path ), while the early eight teams entered the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League third gear qualifying beat ( Champions Path ). The losers of League Path entered the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League one-third qualifying circle ( Main Path ) .

one-third qualifying round [edit ]

The draw for the third base qualify round was held on 31 August 2020, 12:00 CEST. [ 63 ] The matches were played on 15 and 16 September 2020 .
The losers of Champions Path entered the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League play-off round ( Champions Path ). The losers of League Path entered the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League group stage .

Play-off round [edit ]

The hook for the play-off round was held on 1 September 2020, 12:00 CEST. [ 64 ] The first legs were played on 22 and 23 September, and the second legs were played on 29 and 30 September 2020 .
The losers of both Champions Path and League Path entered the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League group stage .

Group stage [edit ]

A sum of 32 teams played in the group stage, from fifteen countries : 26 teams which entered in this stage, and the six winners of the play-off round ( four from Champions Path, two from League Path ). The trace for the group degree was held on 1 October 2020, 17:00 hundred, at the RTS Studios in Geneva, Switzerland. [ 65 ] The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four, with the restriction that teams from the like association could not be drawn against each other. For the draw, the teams were seeded into four pots based on the succeed principles ( introduced starting 2015–16 season ) : [ 66 ] [ 67 ]

  • Pot 1 contained the Champions League and Europa League title holders, and the champions of the top six associations based on their 2019 UEFA country coefficients.[9] As the Champions League title holder, Bayern Munich, were also their national champions, the champions of the association ranked seventh, Porto, was also seeded in pot 1.
  • Pot 2, 3 and 4 contained the remaining teams, seeded based on their 2020 UEFA club coefficients.[68]

In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners and runner-up advanced to the round of 16, while the third-placed teams entered the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League turn of 32. The matchdays were 20–21 October, 27–28 October, 3–4 November, 24–25 November, 1–2 December and 8–9 December 2020. The young teams of the clubs that qualified for the group stagecoach were besides set to participate in the 2020–21 UEFA Youth League, along with the youth domestic champions of the top 32 associations, in a single-leg smasher tournament. however, that tournament was late cancelled as a solution of the COVID-19 pandemic. [ 69 ] İstanbul Başakşehir, Krasnodar, Midtjylland and Rennes made their debut appearances in the group stage. With İstanbul Başakşehir ‘s appearance in the group degree, Istanbul became the first gear city to be represented in the group stage by four different teams ( having been previously represented by Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray ). This season became the first in the history of the Champions League in which three russian clubs played in the group stagecoach. [ 70 ]

Group A [edit ]

Group B [edit ]

  1. a b neck and neck points : Borussia Mönchengladbach 6, Shakhtar Donetsk 0 .

Group C [edit ]

  1. a b Tied on neck and neck points ( 3 ). neck and neck away goals : Olympiacos 1, Marseille 0 .

Group D [edit ]

Group E [edit ]

Group F [edit ]

Group G [edit ]

  1. a b Tied on neck and neck points ( 3 ). tete-a-tete goal difference : Juventus +1, Barcelona –1 .

Group H [edit ]

  1. a b Tied on tete-a-tete points ( 3 ). neck and neck away goals : Paris Saint-Germain 1, RB Leipzig 0 .

Knockout phase [edit ]

In the knockout phase, teams played against each other over two legs on a home-and-away footing, except for the one-match concluding. The mechanism of the drawing card for each round was as follows :

  • In the draw for the round of 16, the eight group winners were seeded, and the eight group runners-up were unseeded. The seeded teams were drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group or the same association could not be drawn against each other.
  • In the draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals, there were no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association could be drawn against each other. As the draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals were held together before the quarter-finals were played, the identity of the quarter-final winners was not known at the time of the semi-final draw. A draw was also held to determine which semi-final winner was designated as the “home” team for the final (for administrative purposes as it was played at a neutral venue).

bracket [edit ]

Round of 16 [edit ]

The draw for the round of 16 was held on 14 December 2020, 12:00 CET. [ 71 ] The first legs were played on 16, 17, 23 and 24 February, and the second legs were played on 9, 10, 16 and 17 March 2021 .
The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 19 March 2021, 12:00 CET. [ 72 ] The first legs were played on 6 and 7 April, and the irregular legs were played on 13 and 14 April 2021 .
The draw for the semi-finals was held on 19 March 2021, 12:00 CET, after the quarter-final draw. [ 72 ] The first legs were played on 27 and 28 April, and the moment legs were played on 4 and 5 May 2021 .

final [edit ]

The concluding was played on 29 May 2021 at the Estádio do Dragão in Porto. A draw was held on 19 March 2021, after the quarter-final and semi-final draw, to determine the “ home ” team for administrative purposes. [ 72 ]

Statistics [edit ]

Statistics exclude qualifying rounds and play-off turn .

top goalscorers [edit ]

top assists [edit ]

Squad of the season [edit ]

The UEFA technical study group selected the take after 23 players as the police squad of the tournament. [ 76 ]

Players of the season [edit ]

Votes were cast for players of the season by coaches of the 32 teams in the group stagecoach, together with 55 journalists selected by the european Sports Media ( ESM ) group, representing each of UEFA ‘s member associations. The coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own teams. Jury members selected their top three players, with the first meet five points, the second three and the third base one. The short list of the clear three players was announced on 13 August 2021. [ 77 ] The prize winners were announced and presented during the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League group phase draw in Turkey on 26 August 2021 .

See besides [edit ]

Notes [edit ]

  1. ^[51][52] Linfield were subsequently awarded a technical 3–0 victory by UEFA according to the regulations related to COVID-19.[53][54] The Drita five Linfield match, primitively scheduled to be played on 11 August 2020, could not be played due to two players from Drita testing convinced for SARS-2 coronavirus and the hale team being put into quarantine by the swiss authorities.Linfield were subsequently awarded a technical 3–0 victory by UEFA according to the regulations related to COVID-19 .
  2. ^[56] On 21 August, the match could not be played due to one player from Slovan Bratislava testing positive for SARS-2 coronavirus and the whole second team being put into quarantine by the Faroese authorities.[57][58] KÍ were subsequently awarded a technical 3–0 victory by UEFA according to the regulations related to COVID-19.[59][60] The KÍ volt Slovan Bratislava match, in the first place scheduled to be played on 19 August 2020, was postponed to 21 August 2020 due to one staff member from Slovan Bratislava testing positive for SARS-2 coronavirus and the whole team being put into quarantine by the Faroese authorities.On 21 August, the catch could not be played due to one musician from Slovan Bratislava testing positive for SARS-2 coronavirus and the unharmed moment team being put into quarantine by the faroese authorities.KÍ were subsequently awarded a technical 3–0 victory by UEFA according to the regulations related to COVID-19 .

References [edit ]