The return of Bundesliga has been a relief of sorts for football fans assuring that even as the coronavirus pandemic prolongs, sport is here to stay, entertain and restore optimism.
The German top tier was cleared to resume by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the German Football Association (DFB) under strict health measures and guidelines that ban fans from the stadium and require players to be tested for Covid-19 before matches. About 300 people, including players, staff, officials and media are allowed into the stadiums on match days.
Players must have felt the matches are more of a training session with the absence of fans to cheer them on because Germans are known to be the most vocal supporters. When Bayern Munich’s midfielder Joshua Kimmich dinked the ball past Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Burki from 18 yards out during their mid-week match, the goal would have been greeted with a loud roar of boos on a normal day at Signal Iduna Park’s 'Yellow Wall'.
The German Classico traditionally attracts the highest number of fans but the first meeting without fans was like just any other day in the training grounds. Bayern’s 1-0 win moved them seven points clear at the top with only six matches remaining to the close of the 2019/20 season.
On Saturday, five matches are on the cards with Wolfsburg taking on Frankfurt, Mainz facing Hoffenheim while Schalke 04 meet Weder Bremen. NTV courtesy of StarTimes will air the match pitting Hertha Berlin against Augsburg from 4:30pm and in the late kickoff Bayern Muchen will host 16th-placed Dusseldorf at the Allianz Arena.
Other major leagues that are set to resume their seasons include La Liga and the English Premier League which will restart on June 8 and June 17 respectively. Aston Villa will get the ball rolling when they host Sheffield United while Arsenal will visit Manchester City at Etihad. The EPL season will come to an end on August 1 when the FA Cup final will be played.
The proposed calendar for 2020/21 season, that was set to kick off on August 21, will however be reworked if the pandemic won’t be contained by then. However every player's and fan’s end goal is to look forward to the first match with fans back in the stadium. Well, the pandemic will tell.
