August 27 – Glasgow Celtic crashed out of the Champions League following a dramatic 1-2 defeat at the hands of Hungarian championss Ferencvaros. It was the Scottish club’s earliest exit in the competition in 15 years.
By Samindra Kunti
August 26 – Lionel Messi has done what previously would have been considered unthinkable. The greatest player of his generation has told his club FC Barcelona that he wants to leave. On Tuesday, he handed in his transfer request, dealing an existential blow to the Catalan giants.
August 26 – UEFA has confirmed that the Super Cup to be played on 24 September 2020 in Budapest will be the first of its competitions to see a partial return of fans to the stadium, but all other matches will continue behind closed doors “until further notice”.
August 26 – Manchester United captain Harry Maguire has been handed a suspended prison sentence after he was found guilty of repeated bodily harm, attempted bribery, violence against public employees and insult in Greek court.
August 24 – Slovan Bratislava have been forced to forfeit their Champions League first qualifying round tie against Faroe Islands minnows KI Klaksvik after because of outbreaks of COVID-19.
August 25 – Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak (pictured) said his club wants to make peace with UEFA following the bitter legal battle over financial fair play, saying life’s too short to carry grudges.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 24 – Teamwork, teamwork, teamwork. While the goal-fest so many neutrals were hoping for did not materialise, Bayern Munich showed the importance of togetherness, steel and spirit as they claimed the Champions League title for the sixth time on Sunday and the first for seven years.
August 24 – Nearly 150 people were arrested when Paris Saint-Germain fans clashed with riot police on the Champs-Élysées on Sunday night following their team’s 1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League final.
August 24 – UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin says the single-game knockout format used in the Champions League and Europa League from the quarter-final onwards this season has been such a success that it will not be ruled out henceforth.
August 24 – The English Football League is reportedly in discussions with the government and safety authorities about staging test events next month with regard to supporters being allowed back into stadiums.
August 24 – Sevilla remain the undisputed kings of the Europa League, winning the tournament for a sixth time after a dramatic and absorbing 3-2 comeback against Inter Milan in the final behind closed doors.
By David Owen
August 21 – To borrow a phrase that has become a social media cliché: that escalated quickly. Sunday night’s first appearance in a Champions League final by Paris Saint-Germain, the loadsamoney, Qatar-backed giants of Ligue 1, was prefaced by a minor farce that might have been plucked from a Jacques Tati comedy.
August 31 – Kosovan club FC Prishtina have taken the unprecedented step of signing players on loan from rival teams for a Europa League fixture because a raft of their own squad tested positive for Covid-19.
August 21 – New Barcelona head coach Ronald Koeman says he does not know if he can convince Lionel Messi to stay after the Argentine superstar reportedly threatened to quit following last week’s 8-2 Champions League humiliation at the hands of Bayern Munich.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 20 – They weren’t at their best and were never going to deliver another eight-goal blitz. But Bayern Munich, 8-2 quarterfinal conquerors of Barcelona, duly booked their place in Sunday’s Champions League final with a hard-fought 3-0 semi-final over Lyon on Wednesday to set up a dream climax against fellow big-hitters Paris St. Germain.