So, what did the Bundesliga version Covid-19 give?

• After more than two months of shutdown, the Bundesliga resumed on Saturday.
• This is the first championship to have organized matches since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
• The experience was generally successful, even if the atmosphere, necessarily, is very bizarre because of the particularly heavy sanitary protocol.

All eyes were on Germany this weekend. First championship to resume, when others have already whistled the end (France) or are still wondering about the best way to proceed (England, Italy, Spain), the Bundesliga reminded Europe what a match was more than two months after the suspension of all competitions due to coronavirus. More precisely, it showed what football might look like for many more weeks.

👀⚽️📺 ... # BVBS04 #BundesligaIsBack

Because the game has resumed, of course, but it will take time for everyone to get used to the new decor imposed by the Covid-19: empty stands, separate entrances to the teams, regularly disinfected balloons , masked and spaced replacements on their bench and celebrations of baroque goals, between wanting to make a difference and respecting social distancing.

In short, the atmosphere is quite surreal. "There is no noise, you shoot at goal, you make a great pass, you score, and nothing happens, it's very very weird", describes Lucien Favre, coach of Borussia Dortmund who launched the day strangling rival Schalke, 4-0. “The day was a bit odd. I am an emotional person, I like to take a player in my arms, which I obviously could not do, ”says Uwe Rösler, Dusseldorf coach.

Already being a replacement was not very fun ... - Martin Meissner / AP / SIPA

From this point of view, some players let the old reflexes reappear. The kiss between Boyata and Grujic, the two players from Herta Berlin, for example, did not go unnoticed. Not enough to lead to sanctions either, according to the German League, only "advice" having been given to the actors. However, this could change. Sunday, the head of the government of Bavaria Markus Söder - whose opinion weighs, since he can like all regional officials to ban sporting events on his territory - suggested to "reinforce the instructions" before the next day to prevent this kind of scene never happen again. "Football has a very important role as an example," he recalled, even if he considered that the experience of this weekend was "a success".

The Bundesliga won the right to return next week

On the field side, the show was assured with 20 goals scored, pending the final result of Union Berlin-Bayern Munich this Sunday evening. Note the great performance of the French duo Plea-Thuram, which allowed Mönchengladbach to win in Frankfurt and grab third place, behind Bayern and Dortmund. The lack of rhythm was still felt everywhere, with a few burnt players in half an hour of play. Like a restart match, but in the middle of the season.

“It was a different game than usual. It is difficult to judge, moreover, if it was a good match or not, notes Lucien Favre. It was not as committed as we had expected. "It was a long break of several weeks, during which we could not work on match situations. Not everything fits perfectly yet, ”said Leipzig striker Yussuf Poulsen.

One of the challenges for the next few days will be to manage injuries, which are likely to multiply with the sequence of matches. Even with the new rule of five changes allowed per match. If all this remains fragile, German football has in any case won the right to return next week ... to the delight of the fans, who were apparently in want. Sky Germany broke its audience records, drawing more than six million viewers on Saturday, nearly double its usual scores.

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