The city of Lisbon is reportedly set to host the Champions League knockout matches in a bid to quickly finish the European competition.
As per original schedule the final was to be played in Istanbul on 30 May, before the all domestic leagues as well as European league due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Currently the round of 16 matches of the competition are in progress and some of the fixtures “Manchester City vs Real Madrid” and “Juventus and Lyon” yet to be played out. The final stages of the tournament are to take place across Portugal’s capital city of Lisbon, as reported by BILD.
The previous decision to host, the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final of Europe’s premier club competition to take place in the same city, remained intact, but hosting without any fans in attendance is not seen as financially viable option. So UEFA has decided to shift the base for final 13 matches to Lisbon.
Russia, was also interested to hold the same fixtures in Moscow, but UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin believed to decided going against the idea as the country is currently dealing with a high amount of coronavirus cases.
Germany, specifically Frankfurt, was also ruled out, lest it gives an advantage to the two Bundesliga sides. The country could however try for hosting Europa League final as an alternative.
Meanwhile Portugal do not have any representation in the knockout stages, their number of coronavirus case is less concerning and the city of Lisbon also has two high-quality stadiums.
Benfica’s Estadio da Luz hosted the 2014 Champions League final won by Real Madrid, while the Estádio José Alvalade – home to Sporting CP – is another Lisbon ground rated five stars by UEFA.
