Berlin (AFP)

Cathedral silence, audible instructions from everyone ... Playing football behind closed doors, as the Bundesliga must do on Saturday for its recovery, represents a heartbreak for players and supporters, especially as Germany does has no culture of empty stands.

"We take no pleasure". The relentless statement was signed by Mönchengladbach coach Marco Rose on March 11 after a 2-1 win over Cologne in the only closed-door match in Bundesliga history.

"We won but that doesn't change the fact that without fans, it's not football that we like. We have all been very professional, but we all now know even better than before how important supporters are in this sport, "he added.

The first major championship to resume after an interruption of more than two months due to the coronavirus pandemic, the German championship will resume the thread of the 2019-2020 season on May 16 in empty precincts.

"It's different, something is missing, it looks like a friendly match, it's hard to take it seriously. On the field I even found it a little more painful than a normal match, because that we feel in training mode, "explained mid-March Christoph Kramer, middle of Borussia.

"There is something missing, and something huge. It's just scary and in a way, it has nothing to do with football," added Deniz Aytekin, the referee of the game.

- "Football cut off from emotions" -

The impossibility of gathering the public, now called to become commonplace due to the pandemic, has led several countries like Spain, England or Italy, to make in camera their "doctrine" for a possible recovery competitions.

A configuration that gives rise to surreal scenes.

"We were all a little more upset than usual, because we hear more what the opposing bench says and what the referees say to each other. We also hear a word from the players, and I can coach d 'across the field,' said Cologne coach Markus Gisdol.

In Spain, the image of an empty, silent, ghostly 99,000-seat Camp Nou during the last match played behind closed doors in Barcelona on October 1, 2017 between Barça and Las Palmas will remain etched in the memories of Catalans for a long time, deprived of bleachers due to the political crisis in Catalonia.

In March at Juventus-Inter Milan, the scene showing Cristiano Ronaldo pretending to clap his hands when leaving the coach, where normally expect a few tifosi, attested to the unusual nature of the measure.

Another absurd anecdote during the meeting: Maurizio Sarri, the coach of Juventus, turning to the stands, waving his arms, as if to urge the public to make noise. A nonexistent public.

During Marseille-Bordeaux in 2019, the scorer of the match Boubacar Kamara had even admitted that at the time of his goal, he "did not know what to do" as a celebration, regretting the absence of "public madness".

- "Twisted Matches" -

Beyond making audible the instructions of the coaches, the exchanges between the players, the impact of the strikes on the posts and the cries of pain following certain duels like during PSG-Dortmund, the closed door disturbs the participants a lot, not very inclined to get excited about empty seats.

"These matches are often twisted, you are more focused on outside things than on the game," summarized in 2017 Ernesto Valverde, then coach of Barça.

The financial shortfall, finally, is a significant fact, often deplored by the sanctioned teams of home matches without spectators. Between ticketing, box office and catering revenues, losses can be counted in millions of euros.

For the knockout stages of the Champions League return between PSG and Dortmund, disputed behind closed doors on March 13, the Paris club estimated the losses at EUR 6 million. And according to the press, Barça had lost 3.4 million euros in ticket sales in 2017. A double penalty for clubs already deprived of the warmth of their public ...

© 2020 AFP