The LaLiga season resumes on June 11 and then — with 11 match weeks still to be played — goes off on a tear with games every day until July 17. This means that clubs will be playing matches every three to four days until the season’s over, and with players lacking match fitness, squad depth will be tested over the coming weeks with young players given a chance to shine.
In a recent interview, Arsenal and Germany goalkeeper Bernd Leno called out the Bundesliga for its monotony as Bayern Munich prepares to win an eighth straight title.
The first reaction to reading his quote is typically: "Says the guy who's in ninth place and 42 points behind Liverpool.”
Bernd Leno is bored of the Bundesliga:
People love to hate on Cristiano Ronaldo, and according to him it’s because they're jealous of his success.
So, with that confident statement in mind, it’s only fair to ask: Did fame change Ronaldo’s play? Or is he just getting older?
We can probably debunk the getting older argument — Ronaldo crushed his recent Juventus fitness tests.
Ada Hegerberg's season had been cut short by the time the new coronavirus wiped out the football calendar, but the break has given her time to rehabilitate her injured knee and the Ballon d'Or-winning striker is relishing her return to training.
Lyon’s Hegerberg ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament in training in January, a cruel blow that immediately ended the prolific forward's campaign.
LaLiga will use virtual images of stands in television broadcasts with added “fan audio,” produced by the makers of the FIFA video game, when it returns to action on Thursday.
Domestic broadcasters in Spain will offer their viewers the choice of a “natural” broadcast of games played behind closed doors with no fans but the international audience will receive only the enhanced broadcasts with added audio and graphics.
When your internal calendar is largely synced with the footballing one, it’s difficult to wrap your head around the fact that we’re now approaching mid-June. In the fantasy world before COVID-19, we’d see Euro 2020 begin on Friday; in the actual COVID-19 world, we’ll see the Premier League return Wednesday with a pair of fixtures that were originally scheduled for March 11.
Sunday’s 2. Bundesliga encounter between promotion hopeful Stuttgart and relegation-threatened Osnabrück finished 0-0 at Mercedes-Benz Arena, and the home side had Osnabrück striker Benjamin Girth to thank for that.
In the 40th minute, Osnabrück mounted a beautiful attack down the right-hand side of the pitch. The flowing move included a scoop pass, a perfectly weighted and executed backheel flick and a no-nonsense square ball for Girth to tap into an empty net from 12 yards out.
But Girth somehow managed to steer his effort off the base of the post and wide.
VfL Wolfsburg striker Wout Weghorst scored with only eight minutes remaining to hand the visiting team a 1-0 win at Werder Bremen on Sunday and push their hosts closer towards relegation from the Bundesliga.
A return to form for the Dutch international ensured Wolfsburg moved up to sixth place, jumping above Hoffenheim, and putting themselves back in place to qualify for next season’s Europa League.
BARCELONA — After an almighty push by all parties concerned, Spain's LaLiga roars back into action next week after a three-month pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with matches taking place every day and with everything to play for.
The season resumes on Wednesday in bizarre circumstances with the second half of a Segunda Division match between Rayo Vallecano and Albacete that was abandoned in December due to offensive chanting.
BUCHAREST — A Universitatea Cluj fan was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for trying to kill a police officer during a Romanian first division relegation playoff match last year.
Vidrean Ovidiu Traian was found guilty of attempted murder after he hit the policeman over the head with a seat, leaving him unconscious and covered in blood, during the game in June against AFC Hermannstadt at the Cluj Arena.
The incident took place amid clashes between Universitatea supporters and police with fans throwing seats, stones and other objects at the officers.