The past three months have been horrible for the world of football due to the global pandemic. The king of sports was suspended in many leagues globally, pending the die down of Coronavirus, and fans just can’t wait for its resumption.
Our fight over Covid-19 took a winning edge two months back, enough to allow the resumption of minor economic activities as well as sports world over. Since then, football fans have been looking over their shoulders expectantly.
Major leagues are officially scheduled to resume at several dates in the month of June! German Bundesliga officially resumed on May 16 and gave everyone a headstart of what to expect from post-pandemic football:
How Football might be different post-pandemic
- No fans in the stands. Football resumption would see matches been played behind closed doors. Only players, team staffs, technical people, news crews, police, stadium workers, and a few others would be allowed into stadiums on match days.
- Sanitization before substitution. It’s weird but players coming into an on-going game might have to sanitize themselves before stepping on the pitch. The usual hand-claps or embraces between the out-going and incoming players would stop for now.
- Wearing face marks. The opening derby between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke had players on the bench putting on face masks and sitting two feet away from each other. This protective measure can equally apply to other leagues upon resumption.
- Solo goal celebration. Goals make football and celebrating them adds to the fun. However, players may be advised to keep from touch/contact styles of celebration as seen from Haaland’s goal against Schalke.
Official Resumption dates of Major Leagues
Now to the main gist, here are dates of football resumption for the top 3 European leagues:
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English Barclays Premier League (EPL)
Known as the king of European football, the EPL is set to return on June 17 with a heavyweight match in the offing: Manchester City Vs Arsenal! Eyebrows are raised as to how the first EPL match after over 90 days would look like.
Liverpool FC is top of the table and with just 3 wins away from the trophy, the famous league action is set to focus more on the adrenaline run among clubs for top four Championship League qualification!
Spanish La Liga Santander
Favorite among lovers of technical gameplay, La Liga would make an earlier return than the EPL. The famous, hotly contested derby match between Real Betis and Sevilla would restart the league on June 11.
Defending champions Barcelona are two points ahead of Real Madrid at the top of the table with 11 matches remaining.
The top-4 quest is tighter than ever this season with Real Sociedad, Sevilla, Getafe, and Athletico de Madrid all punching hard for a place in 2021 Champions League!
Italian Seria A
Everyone would understand if Seria A authorities decide to terminate the unfinished 2019/20 season, but that’s not the case. Lovers of tactical defensive football can smile with relief as Seria A action would return on 20th June.
The announcement was made by the country’s sports minister, Vincenzo Spadafora. With leaders Juventus just one point clear second-placed Lazio, there are still a lot of title-claiming actions to see.
UEFA Champions League
We decided to save the best for the last. While fans of different leagues are excited at the return of their favorite football, all eyes are itching to see the completion of the top-flight competition.
When Athletico de Madrid performed a stunt against Liverpool at Anfield in a match that saw them win 3-2, fans simply knew the 2019/2020 Champions League was set to provide top entertainment in the final rounds.
We would have to wait longer as UEFA announced that the Champions League would likely resume on August 7-8.
The French Ligue Un was ended with PSG announced winners while the Dutch Eredivisie was named null: no winners, no relegations.
To catch all of the footballing actions returning, subscribe your GOtv, DStv, or StarTimes decoder. Don’t wait to be told of the showdowns.
News: Changes in the MultiChoice prices and bouquets
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See you on the action side!