A Season like no other

The games were eerie as players’ shouts echoed off empty concrete terraces and the colorful fan displays were gone. Borussia Dortmund

set the tone on the first day back when its players lined up to salute the empty “Yellow Wall,” usually one of Europe’s loudest and best known fan section.

The results were much like any other recent season. Bayern recovered from early-season troubles to win its eighth straight title with two games to spare, then held a muted party in private without players’ families and the usual beer-throwing antics. Dortmund fought hard with an exciting young team, but fell short.

The coronavirus brought pain to some players, at least indirectly. Injuries were more common after the long break from training and second-division club Dynamo Dresden had to play eight games in 22 days after positive coronavirus tests delayed its return to action.

“Do you think that anyone in the league spent a single second thinking about what’s going on in our heads?” Dresden player Chris Löwe said in a tearful, expletive-filled televised interview railing against the German league last week.

Now Bayern and Leipzig face weeks without games before the Champions

League resumes in August, though Bayern still has a cup final on July 4 against Bayer Leverkusen. There is also a two-leg promotionrelegation playoff that has yet to be played.

Virus testing

Almost immediately after suspending the league on March 13, Germany quietly began preparing for the restart.