UEFA has announced that the culmination of this year’s Champions League will be played out as an eight-team tournament in Lisbon. The eight teams remaining in the competition after the conclusion of the round of 16 will take part in a straight knockout tournament between August 12 and 23.

The four remaining last-16 second leg matches will take place on August 7 and 8.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said: “I am delighted that we are able to resume almost all of our competitions. I am confident that we will not have to endure the fans’ absence for long and that they will be allowed into stadiums sooner rather than later. UEFA took a bold decision when it decided to postpone Euro 2020. But in doing so, we created the space which has allowed domestic club competitions across the continent to resume, where possible, and play to a conclusion. While the game has suffered huge difficulties as a result of the pandemic, those blows would have landed much harder if we had not shown leadership in those early days.”