EURO SEMIS & QUARTERS MUST STAND ON ONE LEG

THE Champions League could be heading for a major shake-up, with quarter-final and semifinal ties being played over one leg.

That will be one of the proposals up for discussion at the UEFA crisis summit meeting next Tuesday, after next week’s Champions League and Europa League fixtures were postponed because of the coronavirus.

Manchester City are favourites to get past Real Madrid, but still have their return leg to play. Wolves are well-placed in the Europa League and Manchester United are all but through.

However, Chelsea trail Bayern Munich 3-0 in the Champions League.

But whoever gets through could face one-off games at neutral venues, or played at home grounds on the toss of a coin, with UEFA desperate to get both competitions finished.

There is a determination to stand by the Champions League final date on May 30 in

Istanbul, with the Europa final in Gdansk three days earlier.

But with teams returning to action in April at the earliest, that leaves little room for two-legged quarter and semi-finals, with the quarter-final draw – due to take place next Friday – also postponed.

There is a growing feeling at UEFA that one-off ties are now the only way forward. But existing ties are expected to be completed and would not be decided after just one game, with City, Chelsea, Wolves and United having played their first legs.

The UEFA summit will be done by a video conference with all 55 member associations taking part, and moving Euro 2020 by a year until the summer of 2021 is also key to the rescheduling.

Moving the Euros to next year would allow European leagues to finish, but also give the Champions League scope to be completed, even if they cannot get the final played by May 30.