UEFA today confirmed Aberdeen will play just one leg per round in the Europa League qualifiers next season.
The Dons are now expected to kick off their Euro campaign at least a month after the originally scheduled date.
However, instead of the traditional home and away format, the qualifier will be slashed to just one match because of the knock-on effect of the Covid-19 shutdown which has hit the European game.
UEFA’s executive committee met today by video conference and mapped out a route for next season’s tournaments through the Covid-19 pandemic.
The qualifying rounds will all be played over one leg, starting on August 20.
Here’s the schedule:
Preliminary round: August 20
First qualifying round: August 27
Second qualifying round: September 17
Third qualifying round: September 24
Play-offs: October 1
Meanwhile, Lisbon has been selected by UEFA as the venue for a mini-tournament to conclude this season’s Champions League.
One-legged quarter and semi-finals and the final will be played in the Portuguese capital from August 12-23.
A decision will be taken by July 10 as to whether the second legs of the four unfinished last-16 ties, including those involving Manchester City and Chelsea, will be played at their normal venues or in Portugal.
Those matches will be played on August 7-8.
On the international front, Scotland’s Euro 2020 play-off semi-final with Israel at Hampden is now scheduled to take place in the international window which begins on October 8, in addition to the two Nations League games already scheduled for that window.
Their potential play-off final in Serbia or Norway would then take place in the international window which starts on November 12. Again, the game will be played in addition to the two Nations League games already pencilled in for that window.
Euro 2020, which would be the first major tournament Scotland have qualified for since the 1998 World Cup, has been moved to next June-July due to the coronavirus crisis.