New kick-off times, new rules and a new European competition… Le Gym kicks off the new campaign at home to Lens behind closed doors this Sunday on the opening day of Ligue 1 Uber Eats, and there are plenty of changes for the new term. Let’s take a look:

NEW WEEKEND SCHEDULE

Adopted on 26 June by the LFP Board of Directors, the Ligue 1 calendar includes several new features.

Unlike previous seasons, the first half of the campaign which begins on 21 August, will end after the winter break scheduled for 23 December. The first half of the season will end on the weekend of 9 January 2021 and the second half will begin on Wednesday 20 January 2021.

Kick off times have also changes this year and will be based on the following:

The French channel Telefoot will broadcast 8 matches from a regular Ligue 1 round (including 10 "big games"), Canal+ will broadcast the remaining 2 matches.

5 SUBSTITUTES AND 20 PLAYERS ON THE TEAM SHEET

This is an important change that has been incorporated into the regulations for the 2020-21 season. On Friday, 31 July, the LFP Board of Directors made the change official: following "a consultation with the clubs", "five substitutions [will be] allowed during the game and a maximum of 20 players registered on the League 1 Uber Eats team sheet". Until now, coaches could make a maximum of 3 changes and register a maximum of 18 players on the team sheet. 

COUPE DE LA LIGUE ABOLISHED

Ratified on 18 September 2019, the abolition of the Coupe de la Ligue comes into effect this season. Created in 1994, this competition, that saw Le Gym reach the final in 2006, offered the winner a ticket to the third qualifying round of the Europa League.

NO EXTRA-TIME IN THE COUPE DE FRANCE

In order to cope with a disrupted calendar and to "allow a matches to be played every three days", the FFF has made a rule change for the 2020-21 Coupe de France by abolishing extra-time from the first round to the semi-finals. In the event of a tied score at the end of regulation time, the match will be decided on penalties.

As a Ligue 1 club, OGC Nice will enter the competition in the Round of 64 on Saturday 2 or Sunday 3 January 2021.

EUROPA CONFÉRENCE LEAGUE, NEW EUROPEAN COMPETITION

This is one of the major changes to come. While the Europa Conference League, the new continental competition devised by UEFA, will only be contested from the 2021-22 season onwards, the clubs qualified for its first edition will be determined at the end of the new season.

All 32 teams taking part in the competition will go through a qualifying round. Seventeen will come from the Europa Conference League main route, five from the Champions Route and ten will be drawn from the Europa League play-offs. The teams will be divided into eight groups of four teams, with the first-placed finishers going directly into the Round of 16 and the second-placed sides going into a knockout round against the Europa League group third-placed teams. The group stage of the Europa League will be reduced to 32 teams (down from 48 today) from the 2021-22 season onwards. The rest of the competition will follow the classic pattern of continental competitions: quarter-final, semi-final and then final.

The winner of the Europa Conference League will qualify directly for the group stage of the Europa League the following season.

M.S.

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