It has been a long three-month dry spell and more for football lovers, players, grounds and television screens the world over, all of which is set to change with the resumption of one major European League or club competition to another, over the next few weeks.
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The Premier League, Championship, La Liga, Serie A, the FA Cup, and others all have confirmed fixture dates. Courtesy of FourFourTwo, here Opera News takes a look at all the important dates of competition restarts in chronological order; from La Liga to the FA Cup and all the way up to the Champions League and Europe League Finals. That being said, get your calendars ready as it is sure to be an interesting next couple of weeks for the biggest sporting event on the planet!
June 11 – La Liga, Spain
Spanish football will be the first of Europe’s major leagues to re-start since the Bundesliga on May 16. La Liga kicks-off with a derby between Real Betis and Sevilla, before Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid, resume their respective campaigns on June 13 and 14. These will be followed by a full weekend of fixtures including a local derby between Valencia and city rivals Levante on June 12.
June 17 – Premier League, England
England’s top-flight makes its comeback with two tantalising fixtures: a dual between reigning champions Manchester City and Arsenal, and Aston Villa versus Sheffield United. These four teams have a game in hand over the rest of the Premier League, while the first full game week will start on Friday, June 19.
June 20 – Serie A, Italy
Italian football makes its return on with a match-up between Parma and Torino with Verona going up against Cagliari. At the other end, Inter Milan, Atalanta, AC Milan and Juventus will be in action across the weekend. The league will continue playing games every day or two for several weeks up to the league’s conclusion.
June 26 – FA Cup
The FA Cup is next up with the competition at the quarterfinal stage. England’s Football Association (FA) have announced games will be played across the weekend, with some teams playing on resumption day and the rest the day after. Who plays when is yet to be confirmed – the final eight being Newcastle United vs Manchester City; Sheffield United vs Arsenal; Leicester City vs Chelsea; and Norwich City vs Manchester United.
August 7 – Champions League and Europa League
UEFA have confirmed that its flagship European club cup competitions will go ahead en route to staging the respective competition finals this year. How it will work remains the subject of speculation, however, it is believed fans will still be unable to attend.
Teams are still at the last-16 stage, with several teams unable to complete their second leg back in March. This includes Manchester City’s clash with Real Madrid and Chelsea’s trip to Bayern Munich. Any dates currently tabled for the UEFA cup competitions are provisional with UEFA set to meet on June 17 ahead of the confirmation of set dates.
August 18-22 – Champions League and Europa League semis
The final four of both competitions will take place over a four-day period at the end of August, which is around the time a new Premier League campaign would normally be starting. The teams involved are yet confirmed be confirmed following the completion of the yet to be completed round of 16.
August 29 – Champions League final
The champions of Europe will most-likely be crowned on August 29. The final had originally been scheduled for Istanbul but UEFA is now exploring alternative options. There will then be only 14 days until a new season begins.
Share your thoughts on the restart of Europe’s biggest club and cup competitions in the comments below.
