Airtricity League sides Dundalk, Shamrock Rovers, Bohemians and Derry will play their European games in August it has been revealed.
Dundalk, will be playing the Champions League and they will enter at the first round of qualifying on the 18th/19th of August. Shamrock Rovers, Derry City and Bohemians will play in the first round of Europa League qualifying on the 27th of August. RTE Sport report that the qualifying rounds will be one off games (no home and away). This is because football governing body UEFA are trying to make space to conclude the 2019/20 season. The first round qualifying draw will be made a week before games, following the preliminary round games.
The four teams have resumed training since last week and will be now of course eager to get back into competitive on the field play. However, RTE state that the clubs remain in discussions with the FAI on whether or how to finish the domestic season. Peamount United will begin their European campaign on the 7th of October. UEFA have also revealed the remainder of the 2019/20 Champions League will be played in Lisbon, Portugal.
The 8 teams in the competition will take part in a straight knockout tournament between the 12th and 23rd of August. The games will take place in two venues which are home to Sporting Lisbon and Benfica. The four remaining last 16 games will take place on the 7th/8th of August, these games are Man City v Real Madrid, Chelsea v Bayern Munich, Juventus v Lyon and Napoli v Barcelona. Four teams have already found passage to the last 8 these are PSG, Atalanta, RB Leipzig and Atletico Madrid. Regarding these games venues have yet to be decided on.
The Europa League from the last 8 onwards will take place across 4 venues in Germany. These been Cologne, Duisburg, Dusseldorf and Gelsenkirchen. These games will take place between the 10 and 21st of August. The final will be held in Cologne. President of UEFA Alex Ceferin said, fans may be allowed at the games but a decision has not yet been reached. He said, “If I would answer today, we don’t think we could have spectators at the Champions League or Europa League finals, but things are changing rapidly. “We will assess the situation at the beginning of July and we will see what the situation will be. It would be incompetent from us if we were to decide in advance about the situation.”
To Summarise:
UEFA Champions League 2020/21
Preliminary round: 8 and 11 August
First qualifying round: 18/19 August
Second qualifying round: 25/26 August
Third qualifying round: 15/16 September
Play-offs: 22/23 and 29/30 September
Group stage: 20/21 and 27/28 October, 3/4 and 24/25 November, 1/2 and 8/9 December
UEFA Europa League 2020/21
Preliminary round: 20 August
First qualifying round: 27 August
Second qualifying round: 17 September
Third qualifying round: 24 September
Play-offs: 1 October
Group stage: 22 and 29 October, 5 and 26 November, 3 and 10 December
UEFA Women’s Champions League 2020/21
Qualifying round mini-tournament: 7 and 13 October
