BUNDESLIGA

Union Berlin striker Max Kruse was criticized for posting an Instagram video showing him enjoying a visit to a shisha bar with friends. Berlin has some of Germany’s highest virus infection rates.

“It wasn’t the cleverest from Max, he knows that himself,” Union teammate Marvin Friedrich said after the team’s 1-1 draw at Schalke on Sunday.

Dortmund coach Lucien Favre assumes there will be more cases among players and he warned that the league may be suspended again. There was no soccer for two months when the pandemic started in March.

“We have to keep trying to play as long as we can,” Favre said Saturday, adding that traveling was generally bad for the situation.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was at the same time urging people to slow the spread of the virus by avoiding unnecessary travel and remaining home whenever possible.

The Champions League starts Tuesday with teams flying all over the continent.

Dortmund will visit Lazio for its Champions League opener in Rome. Bayern Munich has games at Lokomotiv Moscow and Salzburg, Borussia Mönchengladbach visits Inter Milan and Shakhtar Donetsk, and Leipzig travels to Manchester United before the next international break in November.

More infected players could increase the pressure on politicians to be seen to be taking action.

Dortmund chief executive Hans- Joachim Watzke on Saturday criticized officials for what he called “populist soccer bashing.”

Most Bundesliga games took place without fans or with very few supporters attending over the weekend, and it appears the situation will remain for some time. Clubs are already struggling because of lost income from ticket sales.

“It has to go on,” Watzke told broadcaster ZDF. “We need these ghost games ( without fans) at least. If we also don’t have those, it will get very tight.”