Uefa plan to revert back to the traditional Champions League format next year despite the success of this summer's finals tournament in Portugal, according to reports.
Two-legged quarter-finals and semis were scrapped this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Football's shutdown wiped out the traditional Champions League calendar between March and May, but Uefa bosses remodelled the latter stages of the competition to ensure it reached a conclusion.
One-legged quarter-finals were played in a World Cup-style event in Portugal earlier this month, with one-off semi-finals scheduled for the coming week ahead of Sunday's finale.
BT Sport pundit Rio Ferdinand said: "It's added something to it, hasn't it? I've enjoyed it. It's been brilliant. I think it adds that little bit of excitement. It's a shoot-out, almost, for the full 90 minutes. It takes away that conservative edge."
The altered format has been well-received by fans, but The Telegraph reports it will not be repeated during the 2020-21 campaign.
That tallies with Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin's comments last week, when he said a re-run of the finals tournament next year would be "impossible" given the football calendar is already nearing saturation point.
Ceferin said: "This might be interesting in the future, but I don't think we can do it, the calendar is so dense.
"We don't have a plan to do the same competition next year."
