Champions League live stream: How to watch 2020 UEFA soccer games online in USA

Tadd Haislop

Champions League live stream: How to watch 2020 UEFA soccer games online in USA image

Those who wish to live stream UEFA Champions League games in the United States this month as the tournament restarts are in business if they already subscribe to CBS All Access.

While Champions League competition was on a five month-plus hiatus amid the COVID-19 pandemic, CBS took over as the English language UEFA rights holder in the U.S. after Turner Sports backed out of its deal. So now the live stream options for Champions League games in the U.S. are completely different than they were before the tournament was suspended in March.

MORE: Watch select Champions League games on fuboTV

CBS All Access is not the only live streaming service that will show Champions League games as the 2019-20 season reboots, but it's the only one that will carry all 11 matches from the Round of 16 second leg through the Final on Aug. 23.

Along with the new TV/live stream options for Champions League games in the U.S. is a condensed schedule of competition, as the quarterfinals and semifinals will now play out as single-leg fixtures at a neutral site rather than the typical home-and-home aggregate format for those rounds.

Below are all of the details.

Champions League live stream: How to watch games in the USA

There are four good (and by good we mean legal) ways to live stream Champions League games in the U.S., though only one option includes all 11 matches set to be played from the Round of 16 second leg through the Champions League Final in Lisbon.

Streaming service Champions League access Cost Free trial?
CBS All Access All games $5.99 per month Yes
fuboTV Select games $59.99 per month Yes
YouTubeTV Select games $64.99 per month Yes
Hulu Select games $59.99 per month Yes

CBS was supposed to take over the exclusive English language rights for Champions League matches starting in 2021, but it did so ahead of schedule after Turner Sports prematurely ended its deal in June. So CBS is now the home for Champions League action in the United States, but it will not show any of the 11 remaining matches this season on its over-air cable network.

All Champions League matches are available live on CBS All Access, which is the network's online streaming service. A select few, including the Champions League Final, will be shown on TV via CBS Sports Network, which is available on live TV streaming services fuboTV, YouTubeTV and Hulu.

That select few, though, only includes a pair of Round of 16 second leg matches (Manchester City vs. Real Madrid and Barcelona vs. Napoli) and the Champions League Final. So those are the only three Champions League matches scheduled to be shown on fuboTV, YouTube TV and Hulu.

All 11 matches, however, will be shown on CBS All Access, which makes it the easy choice for a live streamer who is signing up only to watch Champions League games.

CBS All Access starts at $5.99 a month, but it is offering a one-month free trial promotion for new subscribers through mid-August. Users can cancel subscriptions at any time.

Below are the devices on which CBS All Access can be streamed:

  • Android
  • iPhone
  • iPad
  • Apple TV
  • Google Chromecast
  • Amazon FireTV
  • LG
  • PlayStation 4
  • Xbox One
  • Roku
  • Samsung
  • Visio
  • Xfinity

Univision is the Spanish-language home for Champions League games in the U.S.

What is CBS All Access?

CBS All Access is so much cheaper than the other live TV streaming options listed above because it includes only programming from CBS and its affiliates rather than a wide range of TV channels. It is basically the network's hub for all-things CBS.

The majority of CBS All Access content is on-demand programming. The library includes all of CBS' original TV series, as well as those from BET, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, MTV and the Smithsonian channel, all CBS properties.

The Champions League games will fall under CBS All Access' live programming, which includes your local CBS cable station, CBSN, CBS Sports HQ and ET Live.

Champions League schedule 2020

The coronavirus shut down live sports on the same day (March 11) that Paris Saint-Germain beat Dortmund and Atlético Madrid topped Liverpool to advance to the Champions League quarterfinals. That left four Round of 16 games left on the schedule.

The Champions League recently determined all four remaining Round of 16 matches could play out at their originally scheduled locations before the tournament heads to Lisbon, Portugal, the neutral site for all semifinal and quarterfinal matches as well as the Final.

"It’s a phenomenal format for us in the U.S. to do it this way,” ViacomCBS chief digital officer Marc DeBevoise told The Associated Press. "A single elimination tournament is something these audiences fully understand. Obviously, there are big soccer fans but March Madness having been effectively canceled, I think people are hungry for things like this.”

All Champions League matches are scheduled to start at 3 p.m. ET. Below is the complete Champions League schedule from what's left of the Round of 16 through the Final at the end of the month.

Friday, Aug. 7

  • Round of 16 second leg
Match Time TV channel Live stream
Juventus vs. Lyon (1st leg: 0-1) 3 p.m. ET N/A CBS All Access
Manchester City vs. Real Madrid (1st leg: 2-1) 3 p.m. ET CBS Sports Network CBS All Access/fuboTV

Saturday, Aug. 8

  • Round of 16 second leg
Match Time TV channel Live stream
Bayern vs. Chelsea (1st leg: 3-0) 3 p.m. ET N/A CBS All Access
Barcelona vs. Napoli (1st leg: 1-1) 3 p.m. ET CBS Sports Network CBS All Access/fuboTV

Wednesday, Aug. 12

  • Quarterfinals (Lisbon, Portugal)
Match Time TV channel Live stream
Atalanta vs. Paris 3 p.m. ET N/A CBS All Access

Thursday., Aug. 13

  • Quarterfinals (Lisbon, Portugal)
Match Time TV channel Live stream
Leipzig vs. Atlético 3 p.m. ET N/A CBS All Access

Friday, Aug. 14

  • Quarterfinals (Lisbon, Portugal)
Match Time TV channel Live stream
Barcelona vs. Bayern 3 p.m. ET N/A CBS All Access

Saturday, Aug. 15

  • Quarterfinals (Lisbon, Portugal)
Match Time TV channel Live stream
Man. City vs. Lyon 3 p.m. ET N/A CBS All Access

Tuesday, Aug. 18

  • Semifinals (Lisbon, Portugal)
Match Time TV channel Live stream
Paris vs. Leipzig 3 p.m. ET N/A CBS All Access

Wednesday, Aug. 19

  • Semifinals (Lisbon, Portugal)
Match Time TV channel Live stream
Bayern vs. Lyon 3 p.m. ET N/A CBS All Access

Sunday, Aug. 23

  • Champions League Final (Lisbon, Portugal)
Match Time TV channel Live stream
TBD vs. TBD 3 p.m. ET CBS Sports Network CBS All Access/fuboTV

Tadd Haislop

Tadd Haislop is the Associate NFL Editor at SportingNews.com.