How return of Bundesliga paved way for La Liga and Serie A amid Covid-19

Football fans will soon be able to watch their favourite stars, like Lionel Messi, Antonie Griezmann, or Cristiano Ronaldo, in action as the Spanish (La Liga) and Italian (Serie A) football leagues return in June.
 
After more than 60 days of lockdown, Germany’s Bundesliga became the first European League to resume its operations. The German Football Federation issued a strict set of guidelines, which includes closed door matches, banning players to shake hands, and hugging. It also issued several guidelines on how to maintain social distance inside dressing rooms and during training.
 
Other leagues are keenly watching to understand how Bundesliga is managing itself.
 
Following Germany’s footstep, Spain became 2nd country to give green signal for resumption of its football league (La Liga) from the week starting 8th June. while the Italian league Serie A is also likely to resume by mid-June. A decision is expected to be made on 28th May.

 
Spain’s La Liga
 
On 23rd May, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced that major professional sporting competitions will be allowed in Spain from the week starting 8th June.
 
"The resumption of major professional sporting competitions, and, in particular, La Liga, will be allowed from the week starting June 8," Spain’s PM said in a press conference.
 
Spain has recently seen a decline in the number of coronavirus cases. Spain has reported 236, 000 Covid-19 cases, out of which 150, 000 recovered and 28,742 died.
 
La Liga’s President Javier Tebas welcomed the move. According to media reports, Tebas said the league could resume from 11th June and the first matchday might see just one game being played between Real Betis and Sevilla as a tribute to Covid-19 victims.
 
Matches will be played behind closed doors and the clubs will have to adhere to a strict set of guidelines issued by La Liga. The league had already allowed clubs to resume training with a maximum of 10 players together.
 

 
The league was suspended on March 12 as Covid-19 cases soured in Spain. Since then, a total of five players in the top 2 division have tested positive.

 
La Liga contributes $17.9 billion to the Spanish economy, which is 1.4 per cent of the GDP and the league could lose one billion euros from broadcasters alone if it remains unfinished, according to media reports.
 
La Liga points table as of March 12
 
Messi-led Barcelona is ahead of arch-rivals Real Madrid by a small margin of two points. With 11 rounds to be played and matches expected to be played twice a week, the league could see an exciting finish. Spain’s other big club, Atletico Madrid, is currently languishing at 6th place with 45 points, a point behind Getafe. A 13-points gap means, Atletico Madrid will be playing for the Champions League’s spot.
 

La Liga points table
Clubs	Games played	Points	Won	Draw	Lost	Goal for	Goal against	Goal difference
Barcelona	27	58	18	4	5	63	31	32
Real Madrid	27	56	16	8	3	49	19	30
Sevilla	27	47	13	8	6	39	29	10
Real Sociedad	27	46	14	4	9	45	33	12
Getafe	27	46	13	7	7	37	25	12
Atletico Madrid	27	45	11	12	4	31	21	10
Valencia	27	42	11	9	7	38	39	-1
Villarreal	27	38	11	5	11	44	38	6
Granada	27	38	11	5	11	33	32	1
Athletic	27	37	9	10	8	29	23	6

 
Big matches after resumption
 
Matchweek 28 

• Athletic Bilbao vs Atletico Madrid
• Real Mallorca vs Barcelona
• Real Madrid vs Eibar
• Sevilla vs Real Betis

Matchweek 29 

• Real Madrid vs Valencia
• Osasuna vs Atletico Madrid

 Matchweek 30 

• Sevilla vs Barcelona
• Real Sociedad vs Real Madrid
• Atletico Madrid vs Real Valladolid

Matchweek 31 

• Barcelona vs Athletic Bilbao
• Villarreal vs Sevilla
• Real Madrid vs Real Mallorca
• Levante vs Atletico Madrid

 Matchweek 31 

• Villarreal vs Valencia
• Celta Vigo vs Barcelona

 Matchweek 33 

• Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid
• Real Madrid v Getafe
• Valencia v Athletic Bilbao

 Matchweek 34

• Villarreal vs Barcelona
• Athletic Bilbao v Real Madrid
• Granada vs Valencia

Matchweek 35

• Athletic Bilbao vs Sevilla
• Getafe vs Villarreal

Matchweek 36
 
Granada vs Real Madrid
 
Matchweek 37

• Barcelona vs Osasuna
• Getafe vs Atletico Madrid
• Real Madrid vs Villarreal

Matchweek 38 

• Deportivo Alaves vs Barcelona
• Atletico Madrid vs Real Sociedad
• Leganes vs Real Madrid

 Italian Serie A to follow suit
 
Italian government officials, people from the football federation and the Serie A are expected to meet on 28th May and decision on the resumption of league would be taken.
 
According to various media reports, Italian sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora said Serie A could restart from 13th or 20th June.
 
"We are working on two possible dates to begin Serie A games, on June 13 or 20," football website Goal.com quoted Spadafora.
 
The minister also reportedly said matches should be aired free in Italy so that fans avoid going to bars and restaurants to watch the league, an idea that all the Serie A clubs won’t like because that may cause loss of television money.

 
Another suggestion to kickoff matches at 4:30 pm in Italy (8 pm Indian Standard Time) was opposed by players because they felt playing 90 minutes during summer is not feasible. Clubs also oppose the proposal to put the whole team under quarantine for 15 days, which could mean no match for 2 weeks, even if one player is found positive.
 
Italy was badly affected by the pandemic when Seria A, on March 9, decided to suspend the league. Before suspension, the clubs were already playing behind closed doors to contain the virus.
 
Italian clubs are not new to the idea of playing behind closed doors as they have been punished, quite a few times, for incidents of racism, corruption.
 
Training
 
Serie A clubs have already begun training under strict protocols which mandates social distancing. 
 
If Serie A would start in the mid-June, it will become the third European football league to resume after Bundesliga and La Liga.
 
Earlier, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has said that the current season of the Serie A will be finished by August 20 as the body has set September 1 for the commencement of 2020-2021 season.
 
Lazio wants to return soon
 
The Italian football club Lazio is just a point behind league leaders Juventus who are at 63 points, both has played 26 games each. With 12 rounds of matches left, Lazio can make history by winning its third Serie A title after a gap of 20 years. The team won Coppa Italia title last season while it finished the league at 8th position.
 
Lazio’s coach Simone Inzaghi is hopeful the league will begin soon.
 
AC Milan’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic may miss the season
 
The 38-year-old Swedish superstar and AC Milan’s forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic could miss the remaining season. According several reports, Ibrahimovic has picked up an Achilles tendon injury which can potentially end his campaign. He picked up injury during a training session. He had rejoined the club in January.
 
Serie A points table
  

Serie A points table
Team	Matches played	Won	Draw	Lost	Goal for	Goal against	Goal difference	Points
Juventus	26	20	3	3	50	24	26	63
Lazio	26	19	5	2	60	23	37	62
Inter	25	16	6	3	49	24	25	54
Atalanta	25	14	6	5	70	34	36	48
Roma	26	13	6	7	51	35	16	45
Napoli	26	11	6	9	41	36	5	39
Milan	26	10	6	10	28	34	-6	36
Verona	25	9	8	8	29	26	3	35
Parma	25	10	5	10	32	31	1	35
Bologna	26	9	7	10	38	42	-4	34

 
Shadows over English Premier League’s resumption
 
Two players of English Premier League (EPL) tested positive on Saturday (may 23), EPL said. One of the players was from AFC Bournemouth. Earlier, six players and staff tested positive.
 
Recently, under Project Restart, the UK government had given a go-ahead for resuming the league from 1st June. The approval depended on the final decision of health ministers and health experts. The league hoped that matches would begin from 12th June. It is hoping it could bag the 1.5-billion euro television money. However, the recent two cases put the plan under jeopardy. Many players and clubs, too, are not in favour of restarting the league at this time.
 
Earlier, teams started their contact training with new safety guidelines.
 
The league was halted on 13th March with 92 games left to play. The title race is led by Liverpool, which has 82 points after 29 games. Second-placed Manchester City is 25 points behind the table topper after 28 games. Winners of the 2015-16 EPL season Leicester City are at third position with 53 points, while Chelsea, with 48 points, is holding on to the last Champions League spot. Tottenham Hostspur and Arsenal are at the 8^th and 9th position with 41 and 40 points, respectively.
 
Premier League points table
 

Premier League points table
Team	Matches played	Won	Draw	Lost	Goal for	Goal against	Goal difference	Points
Liverpool	29	27	1	1	66	21	45	82
Manchester City	28	18	3	7	68	31	37	57
Leicester	29	16	5	8	58	28	30	53
Chelsea	29	14	6	9	51	39	12	48
Manchester United	29	12	9	8	44	30	14	45
Wolves	29	10	13	6	41	34	7	43
Sheff Utd	28	11	10	7	30	25	5	43
Spurs	29	11	8	10	47	40	7	41
Arsenal	28	9	13	6	40	36	4	40
Burnley	29	11	6	12	34	40	-6	39