‘Touch and go’ in many ways as Europe’s Big Leagues start again
With leagues in England and Italy set to resume, a look at the new normal in football that Germany and Spain have thrown up
NEW DELHI: This past weekend, Spain’s La Liga followed Germany’s Bundesliga to become the second ‘Big 5’ football league in Europe to resume amid the Covid-19 pandemic that has claimed thousands of lives across the continent.
The Bundesliga season resumed in mid-May and is only three rounds of games from completion. Serie A in Italy and England’s Premier League are set to resume this week. Italy tested the waters on Friday and Saturday, holding second leg matches of the Coppa Italia semi-final.
The games so far have provided a peek into football’s new normal in a Covid-19 world. We take a look at the five things we have learnt from football’s resumption in Europe:
NO ‘ATMOSPHERE’
The Revierderby that kicked off Bundesliga last month saw Borussia Dortmund and Schalke play at Westfalenstadion, known for its lively atmosphere during matches in normal times. Playing without fans in the stands, Dortmund won 4-0. When Everton host Liverpool in the Merseyside derby on Sunday, the local rivals will be greeted by an empty Goodison Park. No crowd at the stadium means every shout of the players and support staff will be audible on TV.
Premier League, like La Liga, has tried to plug the gap for TV viewers by borrowing crowd noise from a popular video game, but to what extent fans take to the artificial boost has to be seen. What is certain though is that it will take some more time before it is deemed safe for fans to attend games. New Zealand has thrown open the stands to fans after recording zero active cases and Europe may have to wait till the numbers dip. Till then, one can expect more innovations from broadcasters to engage TV viewers.
SUBSTITUTIONS
Teams are making the most of the temporary rule change allowing five substitutes in a game. In the La Liga, all seven games held since resumption till Saturday saw at least one team use all the substitutions. The rule is seen as crucial by many because of the increased injury risk to players who have returned after a long break and due to the remaining games being scheduled more tightly than ideal.
An analysis by fivethirtyeight.com shows the Bundesliga averages 4.29 substitutions by a team per match since resumption, up from the previous league average of 2.92, due to the relaxed norm. Not every team has used five substitutions always and the percentage of substitutes being used has dropped from 97% to 86%. The La Liga and Serie A may see more substitutes used as they have more games left to play.
SOCIAL DISTANCING
It is inevitable that in football players will come into contact with each other during play. Still, many leagues have advised players to minimise physical contact, including with teammates during goal celebrations. As Barcelona players on Saturday, and a few others in the Bundesliga have shown, the advise is not strictly followed.
Some high fives and hugs are still seen after goals. Most goal celebrations though bear the impact of Covid-19 as many players celebrate alone. This is likely to be the case for some time. In the benches, clubs are ensuring staff and players are not seated next to each other and maintain some distance. Other safety measures include players being told to avoid spitting on the pitch.
CALENDAR WOES
Many seem to have forgotten, but hypothetically, in a world without coronavirus all eyes of the football world now would be fixed on the 2020 European Championship and Copa America. Both tournaments have been pushed back by a year. The damage to the current calendar is far bigger with no clarity on how and when to begin the next season, once the current league is completed. La Liga says it plans to begin the next season on September 12, though if the Champions League and Europa League take place as planned in August and Spanish teams reach the final rounds after this congested end to the season, will the start date remain viable? It also remains to be seen how leagues react if new clusters of Covid-19 cases emerge in the coming weeks.
In the latest round of testing in the Premier League, a Norwich player has been found positive. According to Sky Sports, the unnamed player was part of a behind-closed-doors friendly against Tottenham on Friday. In line with government advice, other players from the two clubs were deemed not to have been in contact long enough with the affected player and won’t need to self-isolate. What if a large group of players are found positive at the same time in the near future? Will the league be stopped again?
TRAINING REGIMES
How teams train and prepare for games is also undergoing a major change. Not only are players screened and advised to maintain distance, there are also protocols in place to try and minimise contact. Barcelona full-back Nelson Semedon had to skip group training briefly after being pictured at a friend’s birthday party. Augsburg coach Heiko Herrlich had to miss his side’s first game since resumption after breaking quarantine rules to buy toothpaste. According to a report in the Independent, the average time Premier League players spend within two metres of one another during training has almost halved, from 3.3 seconds to 1.8 seconds. Whether these rules are effective enough to prevent a possible spread of the virus remains to be seen.