FST's summer football calendar: When does the 20/21 season start

August 5, 2020

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Born in the south east of Ireland, Simon put his life-long love of football to good use when he started a successful independent blog in 2010. That opened up an alternative route to a career in journalism, and having had work published across a number of sites and publications, Simon joined the staff at Spotlight Sports Group in 2018.

Football’s enforced break earlier this year means the end of 2020 will see a departure from the game’s traditional calendar and scheduling format.

With leagues across Europe all moved down the line, 2020/21 domestic seasons will start much later than usual this year, while dates for cup competitions will also be reworked to fit in with football’s new diary.

The amended schedule of events has led to plenty of confusion about when and where club football will be played over the next few months – but fear not – FST is here to offer some clarity.

Below, we’ve compiled all the information you need to keep right on top of football’s rejigged calendar starting with the season’s remaining Champions and Europa League fixture programmes.

Champions League 2019/20 schedule

Christiano Ronaldo at Juventus

The Champions League’s new format for 2019/20 will see the remaining Last 16 ties will be played at the host team’s venues, before the remaining clubs descend on Portugal to play a series of one-off knock-out fixtures in an international tournament style set-up. All matches will be played behind closed doors.

Last 16

Friday, August 7

Manchester City vs Real Madrid

Juventus vs Lyon

Saturday, August 8

Barcelona vs Napoli

Bayern Munich vs Chelsea

Quarter Finals

Wednesday, August 12

Atalanta vs Paris St. Germain

Thursday, August 13

RB Leipzig vs Atletico Madrid

Friday, August 14

Napoli/Barcelona vs Chelsea/Bayern Munich

Saturday, August 15

Real Madrid/Man City vs Lyon/Juventus

Semi Finals

Tuesday, August 18

Real Madrid/Man City or Lyon/Juventus vs Napoli/Barcelona or Chelsea/Bayern Munich

Wednesday, August 19

RB Leipzig or Atletico Madrid vs RB Leipzig or Atletico Madrid

Final

Sunday, August 23

Final at the Estádio da Luz, Lisbon

Remember – we’ll be covering all the action with detailed analysis for each game on our Champions League predictions page

Europa League 2019/20 schedule

Man Utd's Pogba and Maguire

Like it’s more illustrious sister competition, the Europa League’s altered format for 2019/20 will see the remaining Last 16 ties played at the host team’s venues, before the all clubs move to Germany to play a series of one-off knock-out fixtures in an international tournament style set-up. All matches will be played behind closed doors.

Last 16

Wednesday, August 8

FC Copenhagen vs Istanbul Basaksehir

Shakhtar Donetsk vs Wolfsburg

Manchester United vs LASK Linz

Inter Milan vs Getafe

Thursday, August 9

Sevilla vs Roma

Bayer Leverkusen vs Rangers

FC Basel vs Eintracht Frankfurt

Wolves vs Olympiakos

Quarter Finals

Monday, August 10

Manchester United/LASK vs FC Copenhagen/Istanbul Basaksehir

Inter Milan/Getafe vs Rangers/Bayer Leverkusen

Tuesday, August 11

Wolfsburg/Shakhtar Donetsk vs Eintracht Frankfurt/Basel

Wolves/Olympiakos vs Sevilla vs Roma

Semi Finals

Sunday, August 16

Wolves/Olympiakos or Sevilla vs Roma vs Manchester United/LASK or FC Copenhagen/Istanbul Basaksehir

Monday, August 17

Inter Milan/Getafe or Rangers/Bayer Leverkusen vs Wolfsburg/Shakhtar Donetsk or Eintracht Frankfurt/Basel

Friday, August 21

RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne

Keep up to date with all of our latest match previews and betting tips on our Europa League predictions page.

European League 2020/21 start dates at a glance

Premier League 2020/21 start date and schedule

Manchester City Kevin De Bruyne

The 2020/21 Premier League campaign will start on September 12 this year and will run until May 23, 2021.

Several teams involved in European football, including Man City, Chelsea, Man Utd and Wolves, could be handed later start dates to offer extra recovery time ahead of the new campaign.

Liverpool will be determined to defend their title at the first time of asking, while Leeds United, West Brom and Fulham will join the top flight from the Championship.

FA Cup 2020/21 start date and schedule

The Emirates FA Cup schedule for the early rounds of the 2020-21 season has been confirmed, with the competition due to start on Tuesday 1 September, though the dates for the first round proper and beyond are yet to be finalised.

Extra preliminary round: Tuesday 1 September 2020
Preliminary round: Saturday 12 September 2020
First round qualifying: Tuesday 22 September 2020
Second round qualifying: Saturday 3 October 2020
Third round qualifying: Tuesday 13 October 2020
Fourth round qualifying: Saturday 24 October 2020

England’s other domestic cup competition – the Carabao Cup – have yet to release details for their 2020/21 format.

La Liga 2020/21 start date and schedule

Spain’s Primera Division will commence its 2020/21 campaign on September 12, with the campaign set to finish on May 23 next year.

Cadiz and Huesca earned promotion from the Segunda Division for next season, where they will be joined by either Almeria and Griona once their play-off tie is decided.

Real Madrid are the league’s current champions having beaten traditional rivals Barcelona to the title by five points.

Serie A 2020/21 start date and schedule

Serie A in Italy only finished their 2019/20 season on August 1, though the Italian championship will kick back into gear with the fresh 2020/21 campaign on September 12, with a May 23 finish date already pencilled in.

Benevento and Crotone were promoted from Serie B and will rub shoulders with champions Juventus next season, while a third new team will join them via the play-offs, which will be decided in mid-August.

Bundesliga 2020/21 start date and schedule

Germany’s Bundesliga was the first of Europe’s major leagues to resume amid the health crisis sweeping across the continent, though the country’s top tier will start its 2020/21 campaign slightly later than its counterparts.

The 2020/21 Bundesliga will kick off on September 18 and the competition will run until its climactic day on May 22 next year.

Arminia Bielefeld and Stuttgart from the Bundesliga from the division below next season, though Heidenheim lost their two legged play-off with Werder Bremen and won’t join the aforementioned promoted duo.

Ligue 1 2020/21 start date and schedule

Ligue 1 decided to cancel their 2019/20 season in controversial circumstances in March – becoming the first and only major league to pull the plug on the current campaign.

French football’s decision makers will commence the 2020/21 season much earlier than other big leagues across Europe, with the action set to get under way on August 22. The season is scheduled to conclude on May 23 next year.

Lorient and Lens have been promoted from the 2019–20 Ligue 2. After the French court had initially ruled that the season would proceed with 22 teams, the relegation of Amiens and Toulouse to the 2020–21 Ligue 2 was confirmed on 23 June, 2020, following a vote by the LFP.