Berlin (AFP)

Thirty-seven in camera matches since the Bundesliga revival, and only eight home wins. The coronavirus caused collateral damage: the advantage of the terrain no longer exists.

"It's crazy, and we didn't expect it that much," said Sebastian Kehl, manager of Dortmund, an orphan of the famous "Yellow Wall" and the 82,000 subscribers of Signal Iduna Park.

In the last two full seasons of the Bundesliga, 45% of the matches have ended in victory for the home team. In post-coronavirus football, this figure has dropped to 21%.

"I don't think it's a coincidence, analyzes Leverkusen coach Peter Bosz. The public always helps their team, and when we play outside without spectators, it's obviously easier."

Used like all players in the German championship to full stadiums and fiery atmospheres, Bosz knows what he is talking about: since the resumption, his men have won three times away, and lost their only home match (4 -1 against Wolfsburg)!

- "Emotion, passion, enthusiasm" -

"It plays, especially for the teams which draw their strength from the euphoria, the fans and the atmosphere of the stadium, nuance Markus Krösche, the sporting director of RB Leipzig. From now on, one has the impression that the teams which have the better individual quality is needed more often. "

Significant example: the small Union Berlin, deprived of its cauldron of the "Alte Försterei", took only one point in two home games in May, and three away.

"You shouldn't use it as an alibi, but I can't say all year long that the atmosphere of the Alte Försterei is fantastic, and say all of a sudden now: it plays no role!" recognizes Oliver Ruhnert, sports director of Union Berlin.

Bayern and its stars, who play on their intrinsic talent, on the other hand do not seem affected by the absence of the fans: four matches, four victories.

Impression confirmed by the ex-international Stefan Reuter, manager of FC Augsburg: "It is especially the small clubs like us which live emotion, passion and enthusiasm."

- Footballers like children -

A study by a group of researchers around Professor James Reade of the English University of Reading confirmed the effects of the camera. The team has compiled the results of 192 matches without a public since 2002: the locals have won only in 36% of the cases, while the European average over the period is 46%.

But other football statisticians are calling for no hasty conclusions.

Results on only four days are not significant, because the randomness of the calendar plays too great a role, estimates the director of the Institute for the science of the training and the data processing of the sport of Daniel Daniel Memmert: "C 'is a snapshot at a time T, but there are too many disturbing factors. "

According to him, the importance of the public is even often exaggerated. A fiery stadium can just as well stimulate a team as it does more stress, depending on whether the team wins or is in bad shape.

The advantage of playing at home is more due to habits and mastery of the environment, adds this researcher, who compares: "Children at home are more aggressive, more dominant. It is no different with footballers. "

And the Bundesliga is in any case a championship that likes to defy logic: during the 6th day played in late September, it had recorded ... eight away wins and a draw in nine matches! A historic record, despite full stands.

© 2020 AFP