Madrid (AFP)

La Liga resumes in turn! Third major European championship to restart after Germany and Portugal, Spain and its stars relaunch their football season Thursday (20:00 GMT) with a Seville derby behind closed doors, in a context of high health vigilance.

An enthusiasm tinged with apprehension: in Spain, one of the countries most affected in the world by the pandemic of new coronavirus, the round balloon is making a comeback in a general consensus and under the eyes of supporters around the world, eager to review Lionel Messi, Karim Benzema and others ...

In Seville, where the derby is one of the hottest in Spain, like in Bilbao, Madrid or Barcelona, ​​garlands of shirts from Spanish clubs were hung in the busy streets, to revive the craze ... but after three months of lethargy, the flame is hard to take.

Sevillian fans from each camp had to keep their usual taunts for social media, cooled by the strict post-pandemic measures adopted by the Spanish health authorities and LaLiga, manager of professional football in Spain ... although this recovery match benefits of a global showcase.

"It is very important that we take into account what we are asked, that fans respect safe distances, whether at home, in bars ... It is the only time in our life that It's going to happen. We have to live it 100%, but respecting the measures. We will do it this way, so will the supporters, "asked Betis coach Rubi Wednesday at the pre-match press conference.

- Police gloves, masks and patrols -

Despite the successful resumption of the championships in Germany (May 16) and Portugal (June 3), the whole of Spain is waiting for the La Liga to restart after 90 days of scarcity. It is a full-scale crash test for health standards and a first step towards a return to normal ... in a country that deplored 242,280 cases and 27,136 deaths from the new coronavirus, according to the latest reports on Wednesday.

By midday on Thursday, around 600 law enforcement officials will be patrolling around the Sanchez-Pizjuan stadium to disperse any rallies of supporters, while the area around the stadium will be bristling with barriers, according to local press.

While the debate is already launched in Spain for a possible return of part of the supporters in the stadiums by the end of June, the recovery will be good in stadiums closed to the public, where the players will have to enter gloved and masked.

A system of flights and hotels exclusively reserved for teams has been implemented by La Liga. Trips to the stadium will be made in two separate buses for members of the same team, or players will be asked to come in their individual vehicle, and they will have to undergo tests for detection of coronavirus before entering the disinfected changing rooms.

- Moment of silence -

On all the lawns of Spain, a minute of silence will be observed before the kick-off of this 28th day of the championship, in tribute to the victims of the epidemic.

This will also be the case on Saturday (8:00 p.m. GMT) in Mallorca, where Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann and all the stars of Barça will make their comeback in competition, or in the small country stadium Alfredo Di Stéfano (6,000 seats), in the suburbs north of Madrid, where the great Real Madrid of Zinédine Zidane and Karim Benzema will receive Eibar, Sunday (5:30 p.m. GMT) ... always behind closed doors.

But before turning on these superstars this weekend, all the spotlight on the football planet will be focused on the Pizjuan stadium in Seville this Thursday evening, where the world champions Nabil Fekir (Betis) and Jesus Navas (Seville FC) will be the protagonists expected from a Liga on the return, between silence and caution.

© 2020 AFP