Lisbon is the center of Europe, five centuries later. So certainly, it's not worth Vasco da Gama's trip to India via the Cape of Good Hope or the Lusiades de Camões, but the Final 8 of the Champions League will highlight the Portuguese capital, back at the top of the hype over the past decade. On the sporting front, it should be seen as a symbolic reminder of the current European reign of the Selecção as a total misunderstanding in view of Lisbon's decline in the Champions League.
Benfica has not set foot in the round of 16 since 2017 and whose Sporting, when there is, uses a showcase for its best elements (hello Bruno Fernandes). Failing to show its players, it is its stadium, Alvalade, which will host the epilogue of C1 together with the enemy brother, Luz. Between the two colossi inherited from Euro 2004, count half an hour on foot and a little less than three terminals. Convenient.
Health and sports compromise
The choice of Lisbon is obviously not only sporting, health context requires. Initially competing with Spain and Germany for the organization of Final 8, Portugal convinced UEFA by being particularly responsive. This is what Aleksander Ceferin said on the day the host city was announced.
“The Portuguese Federation was the first to come to us and tell us that if we needed someone they could help us. That they were ready to do it. They maintained regular contact with the Government and ensured they could organize such a competition easily. "
In short, an ideal compromise between a sports structure and control of the health situation. Since the start of the pandemic, Portugal has recorded "only" 52,351 cases and 1,746 deaths (figures from August 7), thanks to rapid containment, effective pedagogy (President Marcelo Rebelo Sousa appeared at the beach with a mask in a big TV moment) and the effective implementation of tests at the height of the epidemic.
By the time Lisbon is officially designated the host city, the country is running at little more than 200 new cases per day on average over a week (a level it has since regained), so that UEFA is giving itself the right to reflect. to the question of the public at Alvalade and la Luz. The option will be swept away in mid-July, when a cluster is rife in the Lisbon region.
Lisbon cluster and mini-reconfinement
Responsiveness, always, Portugal decrees the state of "calamity" in 19 suburban municipalities ("in Lisbon itself, everything is normal, explained last month Nuno Raposo, journalist for the sports daily A Bola . There are cities surroundings with restrictive measures, but no total containment strictly speaking ”) and succeeded in containing the epidemic turmoil by limiting the movements of Lisbonites. The situation remains fragile today since most of the country's cases are concentrated in and around the capital. But on the eve of the competition, the storm has passed.
We can not also say that Portugal really shook since there was never any question of relocating Final 8. Ceferin was also so confident that he had no plan B, at most, he "monitored the situation on a daily basis" during the second wave. But we can easily guess that the pain linked to the loss of the event would have been proportional to the pride of organizing it, especially for the pundits of Lusitanian football.
Pedro Proença, boss of the League: “Having the confidence of UEFA to organize seven Champions League finals matches is a source of pride. The president of the FPF, Fernando Gomes thinks none the less, and also sees it as a bonus for the good behavior of his compatriots during the crisis. “Receiving these matches was only possible thanks to the behavior the Portuguese had during the relentless fight against the coronavirus. "
No economic benefits, but a good ad for Lisbon
National pride heightened on one side, relief on the other. Despite the absence of the public in the stadiums, Lisbon should see a flock of foreign supporters, to whom instructions and rules in force will be communicated "in English, French and German" via the networks and on their arrival, as explained. the Portuguese Minister of the Interior, Eduardo Cabrita. No refusal these days. Despite the good management of the coronavirus health crisis, Portugal does not inspire confidence in everyone - London excluded it from its safe countries in July - and tourism is doing badly. The country is expected to record a loss of 2% of GDP in the tourism sector alone.
🇵🇹 Portugal: over one year, overnight bookings by foreign tourists plunged by 96% 📉https: //t.co/MZNkzBROQZ
- Challenges (@Challenges) August 4, 2020The boost from the Champions League is inevitably beneficial. Daniel Sá, executive director of the Portuguese Institute of Marketing Administration (IPAM), quoted by the media ECO: “It will not save the national economy, but it is the most seen sporting event in the world, with 800 million viewers. It is a colossal advertising campaign for the country. We certainly didn't have the money for a campaign that could reach 800 million people. The question being: if Vasco da Gama had been told that it would one day be possible to reach the whole world without breaking the bank and staying locked in his home because of the plague, would he have believed us?
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