The2019–20 UEFA Champions League knockout phase began on 18 February with the round of 16 and ended on 23 August 2020 with thefinal at theEstádio da Luz inLisbon, Portugal, to decide the champions of the2019–20 UEFA Champions League.[1] A total of 16 teams competed in the knockout phase.[2]
Times areCET/CEST,[note 1] as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
Each tie in theknockout phase, apart from the final, was to be played overtwo legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scored more goals on aggregate over the two legs would advance to the next round. If the aggregate score was level, theaway goals rule was applied, i.e. the team that scored more goals away from home over the two legs advanced. If away goals were also equal, thenextra time was played. The away goals rule was again applied after extra time, i.e. if there were goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score was still level, the visiting team advanced by virtue of more away goals scored. If no goals were scored during extra time, the winners were decided by apenalty shoot-out. In the final, which was played as a single match, if the score was level at the end of normal time, extra time was played, followed by a penalty shoot-out if the score was still level.[2]
The mechanism of the draws 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 onwards, 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).
For the quarter-finals and semi-finals, teams from the same city were not to be scheduled to play at home on the same day or on consecutive days, due to logistics and crowd control.[3] To avoid such scheduling conflict, if the two teams were drawn to play at home for the same leg, the order of legs of the tie involving the team which were not titleholders of Champions League or Europa League, or the team with the lower domestic ranking in the qualifying season (if neither team were continental title holder) was to be reversed from the original draw.[4]
On 17 June 2020, UEFA announced that due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the final stages of the competition would feature a format change: the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final would be played in a single-leg format from 12 to 23 August 2020 at theEstádio da Luz andEstádio José Alvalade inLisbon, Portugal. The matches were playedbehind closed doors, through the decisions of the national and local government.
Following the competition restart in August 2020, a maximum of five substitutions were allowed, with a sixth allowed in extra time. However, each team was only given three opportunities to make substitutions, with a fourth opportunity in extra time, excluding substitutions made at half-time, before the start of extra time and at half-time in extra time. This followed a proposal fromFIFA and approval byIFAB to lessen the impact of fixture congestion.[5]
The schedule was as follows (all draws were held at the UEFA headquarters inNyon, Switzerland).[1]
Following the first set of round of 16 second leg matches, the competition was postponed indefinitely due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Europe.[6][7] The final, originally scheduled to take place on 30 May 2020, was officially postponed on 23 March 2020.[8] A working group was set up by UEFA to decide the calendar of the remainder of the season.[9]
The first legs were played as scheduled on 18, 19, 25 and 26 February, as were the first set of second legs on 10 and 11 March 2020. Due to concerns over theCOVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the second set of second leg matches were postponed by UEFA on 13 March 2020.[6] On 17 June 2020, UEFA announced that the second legs would be played on 7–8 August 2020, with the venue to be decided between the home team's stadium and a neutral stadium in Portugal (at theEstádio do Dragão inPorto and theEstádio D. Afonso Henriques inGuimarães).[11] On 9 July 2020, UEFA announced that the remaining second legs would be held at the venues originally proposed.[12]
The first leg of the Atalanta v Valencia tie was retrospectively blamed by local civic and medical authorities for contributing to the extremely high concentration of coronavirus cases in Atalanta's home city ofBergamo. Several fans and players of Valencia also had positive diagnoses after returning from the game.[13][14][15] The second leg of the Atlético Madrid v Liverpool tie was similarly blamed for the sharp increase in coronavirus-related deaths inNorth West England.[16]
The draw for the semi-finals took place on 10 July 2020 (after the quarter-final draw).
For the first time since the2006–07 season, no Spanish team managed to reach the semi-finals of the competition.[43] It is also the first time that no English or Spanish team has managed to reach the semi-finals of the competition since the1995–96 season, and the first time since the1990–91 European Cup that no English, Italian or Spanish team reached the semi-finals.[44] For the first time in competition history, two French teams managed to reach the semi-finals.[45]
The final was played at theEstádio da Luz inLisbon. The "home" team (for administrative purposes) was determined by an additional draw held after the quarter-final and semi-final draws.[38]
^The Manchester City v Real Madrid match, originally scheduled to be played on 17 March 2020, 21:00 CET (20:00 GMT), was postponed as the Real Madrid players were quarantined due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Spain.[21]
^abThe Bayern Munich v Chelsea and Barcelona v Napoli matches, originally scheduled to be played on 18 March 2020, 21:00 CET, were postponed following the suspension of UEFA competitions due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Europe.[6]
^The Juventus v Lyon match, originally scheduled to be played on 17 March 2020, 21:00 CET, was postponed as the Juventus players were quarantined due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Italy.[21]
^abcd"All of this week's UEFA matches postponed".UEFA. Union of European Football Associations. 15 March 2020.Archived from the original on 8 April 2020. Retrieved15 March 2020.due to the spread of COVID-19 in Europe and related decisions made by different governments, all UEFA club competitions matches scheduled this week are postponed
Note: In 1991–92, the competition was still known as the European Cup, but is included as it was the first to use a group stage format. In that season and 1992–93, there was no knockout phase between the group stage and final.
Paris Saint-Germain
Real Madrid
Bayern Munich
Tottenham Hotspur
Atalanta
Lyon