Atletico pulled out a victory in extra time to advance to the quarterfinals, spoiling LFC’s chance to retain the cup. But it seemed for a while — a long while — that might be as far as this went. There was every reason to believe the Champions League season might be abandoned.
As with most of European soccer, though, Champions League will return to complete its tournament. Five months and nine days will have passed between the first legs of Manchester City-Real Madrid and Juventus-Lyon and the Aug. 7 resumption of those series.
It’s doubtful there’s ever been anything like this, but at least it’s happening.
MORE: Watch Champions League matches live on fuboTV (7-day free trial)
Champions League bracket 2020
The @ChampionsLeague bracket! pic.twitter.com/r9EdxIdxiz
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) July 10, 2020
When the pandemic hiatus began, four teams — Atletico Madrid, RB Leipzig, Paris Saint-Germain and Atalanta — had established themselves as quarterfinalists. Four series remained unsettled.
UEFA will complete the Round of 16 as originally scheduled, albeit delayed. Teams that were on the road for the first leg of the round will get to play at home in the second leg. There will be no spectators allowed, though, mitigating homefield advantage.
Man City will be at home against Real Madrid; City owns a 2-1 advantage after its trip to Madrid. Lyon is ahead of Juventus by a 1-0 score but has to visit Turin for the second leg. Barcelona and Napoli are tied 1-1 after the first leg in Naples. Chelsea is in a massive 3-0 hole heading to Germany for the second leg against Bayern Munich.
UEFA held a draw July 10 to establish the matchups for the quarterfinals, semifinals and final, all of which will be contested at two stadiums in Lisbon: the Estadio Jose Alvalade and the Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica (also known as Estadio da Luz).
The quarterfinals and semifinals, customarily two-leg series, will be single-elimination, staged one match per day from Aug. 12-15.
The semifinals will be contested Aug. 18-19.
The final will be Sunday, Aug. 23 at Estadio da Luz.
How to watch Champions League in the USA, Canada
Turner Sports had secured rights to Champions League from previous rightsholder Fox Sports back in 2017, with a deal that was scheduled to run through the 2020-21 competition.
Last October, CBS won the rights to tournaments starting in 2021-22, but in early July, Turner surprised the soccer world by relinquishing the rights to the remainder of this tournament as well as the full 2020-21 event.
CBS announced it plans to put the majority of the 2020 tournament on its streaming service, CBS All Access, with only a few games — including the Aug. 23 final — on its cable channel CBS Sports Network. None of this season’s games will be on the main CBS channel.
The main CBS network has a conflict with the Northern Trust golf tournament on the day of the final. But during the quarterfinals (and one presumes the semis, although schedules aren’t available yet), CBS Sports Network is airing its regular daily talk show, Tiki and Tierney, rather than soccer.
So it is apparent CBS is pushing for subscribers to sign up for CBS All Access, which costs $5.99 per month for the option that includes commercial advertisements. There is a one-month free trial period.
The games on CBS Sports Network are also available on fuboTV, which offers a seven-day free trial.
For viewers in Canada, Champions League games are on DAZN, the global streaming sports service.
Champions League schedule 2020
Here is the complete TV schedule to watch Champions League games in the United States. (In Canada, every game is available via DAZN.)
Round of 16
| Date | Time (ET) | Match | TV, live stream |
| Aug. 7 | 3 p.m. | Manchester City vs. Real Madrid | CBS Sports Network, CBS All Access, fuboTV |
| Aug. 7 | 3 p.m. | Juventus vs. Lyon | CBS All Access |
| Aug. 8 | 3 p.m. | Barcelona vs. Napoli | CBS Sports Network, CBS All Access, fuboTV |
| Aug. 8 | 3 p.m. | Bayern Munich vs. Chelsea | CBS All Access |
Quarterfinals
| Date | Time (ET) | Match | TV, live stream |
| Aug. 12 | 3 p.m. | Atalanta vs. Paris Saint-Germain | CBS All Access |
| Aug. 13 | 3 p.m. | Red Bull Leipzig vs. Atletico Madrid | CBS All Access |
| Aug. 14 | 3 p.m. | Napoli/Barcelona winner vs. Bayern/Chelsea winner | CBS All Access |
| Aug. 15 | 3 p.m. | Man City/Real Madrid winner vs. Juventus/Lyon winner | CBS All Access |
Semifinals
| Date | Time (ET) | Match | TV, live stream |
| Aug. 18 | 3 p.m. | TBD | CBS All Access |
| Aug. 19 | 3 p.m. | TBD | CBS All Access |
Final
| Date | Time (ET) | Match | TV, live stream |
| Aug. 23 | 3 p.m. | TBD | CBS Sports Network, CBS All Access, fuboTV |
MORE: Watch Champions League matches live on fuboTV (7-day free trial)
Are there any American players left?
Chelsea fell in a deep, probably insurmountable deficit with a 3-0 first-leg loss at home to Bayern Munich when winger Christian Pulisic was out injured — and before he emerged as one of the brightest stars of the Premier League’s resumption.
Unfortunately for Chelsea and American fans, Pulisic is injured again and will miss Saturday's second leg. Pulisic suffered a hamstring injury in Chelsea's FA Cup final loss to Arsenal on Saturday.
That means we won't get the pleasure of Pulisic being on the same field as Canada's Alphonso Davies, one of the world’s best young players over the course of the 2019-20 season. Davies scored three goals and recorded six assists, mostly from the left back position, as Bayern ran away with the Bundesliga title. He has three assists to date in Champions League.
Midfielder Tyler Adams started five of nine games for RB Leipzig following the hiatus, playing multiple positions but primarily as a midfielder. Leipzig went 4-1-4 in those games, enough to stay ahead of Borussia Monchengladbach and finish third.
Leipzig will face defensive-oriented Atletico in its quarterfinal game, which would mean a compelling challenge when Adams is on the field.
Champions League standings 2020
Bayern Munich from Germany's Bundesliga was the only club to earn all 18 of the available points in the group stage, as it swept Group B in dominating fashion. Bayern also finished the group stage with the best goal differential (+19) in the Champions League.
Below are the group stage tables that helped set the bracket for the Champions League elimination rounds.
Group A
| Team | Played | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goals for | Goals against | Goal differential | Points |
| Paris Saint-Germain | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 15 | 16 |
| Real Madrid CF | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 8 | 6 | 11 |
| Club Brugge | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 12 | -8 | 3 |
| Galatasaray AŞ | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 14 | -13 | 2 |
Group B
| Team | Played | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goals for | Goals against | Goal differential | Points |
| FC Bayern München | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 5 | 19 | 18 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 14 | 4 | 10 |
| Olympiacos FC | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 14 | -6 | 4 |
| FK Crvena zvezda | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 20 | -17 | 3 |
Group C
| Team | Played | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goals for | Goals against | Goal differential | Points |
| Manchester City FC | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 4 | 12 | 14 |
| Atalanta BC | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 12 | -4 | 7 |
| FC Shakhtar Donetsk | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 13 | -5 | 6 |
| GNK Dinamo Zagreb | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 13 | -3 | 5 |
Group D
| Team | Played | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goals for | Goals against | Goal differential | Points |
| Juventus | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 16 |
| Club Atlético de Madrid | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 10 |
| Bayer 04 Leverkusen | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 9 | -4 | 6 |
| FC Lokomotiv Moskva | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 11 | -7 | 3 |
Group E
| Team | Played | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goals for | Goals against | Goal differential | Points |
| Liverpool FC | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 13 |
| SSC Napoli | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 12 |
| FC Salzburg | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 16 | 13 | 3 | 7 |
| KRC Genk | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 20 | -15 | 1 |
Group F
| Team | Played | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goals for | Goals against | Goal differential | Points |
| FC Barcelona | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 14 |
| Borussia Dortmund | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 10 |
| FC Internazionale Milano | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 7 |
| SK Slavia Praha | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 10 | -6 | 2 |
Group G
| Team | Played | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goals for | Goals against | Goal differential | Points |
| RB Leipzig | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 11 |
| Olympique Lyonnais | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 8 |
| SL Benfica | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 11 | -1 | 7 |
| FC Zenit | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 9 | -2 | 7 |
Group H
| Team | Played | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goals for | Goals against | Goal differential | Points |
| Valencia CF | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 11 |
| Chelsea FC | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 11 |
| AFC Ajax | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 10 |
| LOSC Lille | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 14 | -10 | 1 |