Give Atletico Madrid the Champions League trophy, Cerezo suggests

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Madrid, June 11: Atletico Madrid should be rewarded for their victory over Champions League title-holders Liverpool by being handed the trophy if it is not possible to conclude the tournament this season.

That is the view of Atletico president Enrique Cerezo, who suggested the winners of the 2019-20 edition should be the team that knocked out the reigning champions.

His comments, quite probably tongue in cheek, come as UEFA is formulating a plan to finish the competition, with Atletico having progressed past the Reds to reach the quarter-finals.

One possible solution is for a single host city to stage matches for the last eight onwards, with one-off fixtures likely to replace the traditional two-legged contests.

But Cerezo has his own ideas on how things might be settled if the Champions League cannot be finished.

"In the hypothetical case that the Champions League was not played for the coronavirus, then the champion [should be] the one who beat the champion," Cerezo told Mundo Deportivo.

"There are still a few knockout games left, the quarter-finals, the semis and the final.

"We understand that UEFA tries to centralise all these matches in one city, there was talk of Spain, Portugal... nothing is known yet.

"There are 11 games left, plus the final phase of the Champions League, which can be four games. I imagine that the government is waiting to see how the pandemic evolves and will take the decision it considers."

Atletico have lost two Champions League finals, in 2014 and 2016.

Diego Simeone's side resume their LaLiga campaign at Athletic Bilbao behind closed doors on Sunday.