The use of MIMO and Massive MIMO is considered one the most disruptive and effective technologies introduced in recent years. For beyond 5G networks, the use of cell-free MIMO is being considered, which essentially means distributing the access points (AP) and doing the processing either locally or centrally. While many studies have considered spectral efficiency gains of various central or local processing methods, few publications consider the impact of the 5G architecture, and the NG-RAN, on the cell-free networking opportunities and challenges. The O-RAN alliance, initiated by some large operators and players in the telecom domain, aims to transform the radio access networks towards truly virtualized, distributed, and most importantly open systems. In an ideal world, multiple distributed O-RAN entities cooperate seamlessly to bring the best possible connectivity to each UE, cooperating through the O-RAN APIs. The key challenge that remains is how to merge cell-free networking, and distributed processing, with those existing network architectures. To exploit those distributed O-RAN entities optimally, and meet diverse requirements of future communication systems, beyond 5G intelligent networks will provide enhanced flexibility through the dynamic scheduling of the available resources. Given the densification of networks, and the introduction of cell-free architectures, the availability of radio access resources is unseen, and is only limited by the potential of the resource allocation methods. A major challenge is how to achieve this within standard and open architectures, such as for instance the O-RAN ALLIANCE. We will give a brief overview of the main academic trends in cell-free communication and radio resource management. We then describe how they will be mapped to NG-RAN and O-RAN terminology and architectures, giving a clear insight in the remaining challenges and innovation needs.