To summarise the Champions League 2019-20 in 10 odd words: As Bayern Munich rose, Barcelona cried, Lyon bid Manchester City goodbye.

A total of 119 matches, 386 goals, one coming at every 28th minute and Robert Lewandowski gliding through the front, was the story of a pandemic marred Champions League. One that started with Liverpool and Manchester City being the favorites and ended with Quique Setién losing his job.

The draws for the 65th edition of the UEFA tournament were announced in Nyon, the qualifying round starting as early as June 11, 2019 with playoffs scheduled on August 5.

However, the drama officially kicked off later in August when Real Madrid were informed that Neymar Jr and company would wait for them in Group A, whereas Bayern Munich and Tottenham Hotspur would clash in Group B. Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus had to welcome one of the Portuguese forward’s favourite opposition, Atletico Madrid in Group D. On the other side Barcelona had to take on Borussia Dortmund and the Group G, the one that cradled the dark horses (RB Leipzig and Lyon).

The hits and misses as the UEFA Champions League generally carry in her bag started crawling out when Napoli held Liverpool in a 1-1 draw and Chelsea got trapped in their nightmare by Ajax. RB Salzburg hitting 6 goals over Genk and Mauricio Pochettino seeing his career jump off a cliff versus Bayern Munich (2-7) were some highlights the group stage presented with. In the meantime, Lionel Messi with his plans still having Barcelona jerseys claimed his 700th appearance for the Catalans.

However, the funfair carried on when in the Round of 16, Liverpool were crushed by Atletico in their ‘corner well taken’ fashion as Diego Simeone with almost half the possession sealed a 3-2 win. RB Leipzig handed Jose Mourinho his first major setback at Tottenham by pushing the 2018-19 finalists out of the quarter-finals race. Real Madrid were knocked out by Manchester City and Atlanta finally could flaunt winning 8-4 (agg) against Valencia as Lyon took Juventus down.

By the time eight teams reached the quarter-finals stage, COVID-19 had made a wildcard entry and the matches were to be played between August 12-15.

With one leg to be played, empty stadiums and social distancing norms all over football, it was Lyon and RB Leipzig who defeated Manchester City and Atletico Madrid respectively bidding for a historic Champions League run. Atlanta saw an easy defeat at the hands of PSG, but the match that made the headlines included the names of Barcelona and Lionel Messi. The 2015 winners suffered their worst Champions League defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich when the German giants ‘tiki taka-ed’ their way around Barcelona, scoring eight goals against the two Barcelona had.

Semi finals: For the first time since 1995-96, neither an English nor a Spanish team made it to the semi-final stage. With Bayern Munich heading against Lyon and RB Leipzig locking horns with PSG, this stage saw identical and expected results. RB Leipzig and Lyon lost 3-0 in their respective games.

Finals: Paris Saint Germain and Bayern Munich took steps into the Estadio de Luz, Lisbon with their best players firing. Bayern did have a better chance and Coman just proved the odds right, slamming the only goal in the game. Bayern Munich won 1-0, bedding another chapter of the UEFA Champions League that made some big noise.

Robert Lewandowski with 15 goals was the highest scorer, Manuel Neuer took the best goalkeeper award while Joshua Kimmich, Kevin De Bruyne and Lewandowski also starred. Many would say this Champions League season was owned by Bayern Munich, but the due credits would definitely stay with RB Leipzig, Lyon and Atlanta for making COVID-19 seem small.