Not sure kissing’s allowed though!
BORUSSIA DORTMUND players stood side by side as they faced their famous stand. Just like they always do, just a little further apart than usual. Then they ran forward, threw their arms into the air and cheered in celebration of their 40 win over fierce rivals Schalke.
But no one cheered back. They celebrated in front of nothing, in front of a grey wall instead of their usual yellow one.
It capped off a strange, curious day. It is great to have football back but it is nothing compared to the football we love. Nothing compared to the football in front of a crowd and the atmosphere of a full stadium.
The match on its own was good. It was still intense. The quality, too, was high. Dortmund showed they are candidates for the title.
You could watch the match, but you could not feel it — fans standing up with anticipation at every chance, 80,000 shouting and screaming at each other.
When goals went in it was still loud but that was because the player, bench and manager were celebrating. It was like watching a friendly. Even the players’ celebrations were strange. When Erling Haaland scored (he is not human, he is a phenomenon), all the players celebrated apart from each other. Social distancing became distant celebrating.
The atmosphere was crazy. You could hear the players giving each other advice. You could hear the TV and radio commentators.
It was so quiet you could even hear the referee’s armband vibrate whenever he got an alert from one of his assistants. You knew he was about to blow his whistle for offside two seconds before he did.
You could hear the referee, too. Haaland clashed with Jean-Clair Todibo and you could hear the official tell him to calm down.
Usually when I sit in my seat at the Signal Iduna Park, and especially for this derby, I look to my left and I see 20,000 fans all stood in yellow and black. All singing, all chanting. It’s electric.
Now, there was nothing there. No flags, no banners, no messages telling the players to fight for the win. You’ll Never Walk Alone blared out of the tannoy, but there was no one there to sing along.
When I arrived at the ground, we had to fill in a questionnaire. I had to say if I had suffered any coronavirus symptoms, whether I had been in contact with anyone who had, or if I had recently visited a country at risk.
Then they measured my temperature. It was 36.8 degrees. Everything was fine. We all had to wear masks. I brought mine from home. If you didn’t have one, then you were handed one at the ground.
Players on the bench had to wear one too, and were only allowed to take it off to warm up.
Usually this game has around 200 reporters. Yesterday, there were 33 — 10 written journalists and 23 from radio and television.
We all had our own table which normally sits three. There was no food provided, either. We had to bring our own. I had an apple, a sausage and a bottle of water.
There were no fans even outside the stadium. Instead, there were around 60 journalists from all over the world, from Japan to Brazil. Normally this game electrifies the city.
It was the same in the centre of Dortmund. There is a pub in town called Mit Schmackes — in English, ‘with great gusto’ — which is owned by former Dortmund player Kevin Grosskreutz. Usually it is rammed full on a match day. Yesterday, there were just 30 people inside, all sat apart.
But the world was watching. There is a big responsibility on the Bundesliga. I hope we will be able to finish the season.
Let’s hope we could be a positive example for the Premier League and other countries as we show that football can return, even if this proved it is a different kind of football.