Throughout the entirety of the 2018-19 Premier League season, the home team won 47% of matches, lost 34% and drew 11%. Prior to the break, home teams in the Bundesliga had won 43.3% of their games. Many wondered what playing behind closed doors would do to home advantage, and the early answer is actually quite astounding.
Spain coach Luis Enrique is no fan of playing matches without spectators as leagues begin to return in empty stadiums after being disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Playing matches without supporters is sadder than dancing with your sister," Luis Enrique said in an interview for Spanish basketball show Colgados del Aro.
Last weekend the Bundesliga became the first major European league to resume action and players were unable to celebrate goals together to reduce the risk of infection while stadiums normally packed with boisterous supporters were left bare.
Premier League clubs will return to training on Tuesday after agreeing to allow "small group" sessions to begin, with a possible return to normal 'contact' training next week.
The league held a conference call for all 20 clubs on Monday where the move was given unanimous backing but there remains no firm date for the season to resume. Another meeting is scheduled for early next week when the league will decide on whether to move to the second phase which allows for training involving contact.
Bayer Leverkusen thrashed Werder Bremen 4-1 on Monday in a match that showcased exactly why Leverkusen could be playing in the Champions League next season while Werder’s 40-year stay in the top division is almost certainly at an end.
Celtic have been declared Scottish champions for a record-equalling ninth successive season while Hearts were relegated after the clubs voted on Monday to end the Premiership season early because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
FC Seoul’s 1-0 victory over Gwangju was a steamy and sultry affair at Sangam Stadium on Sunday. With K League matches being played behind closed doors, the 66,000-seat facility was left empty — except for the handful of sex dolls that greeted Han Chan-hee’s winner with expressions of titillated euphoria.
UEFA has a plan to finish the 2019-20 season by August, including the Champions League and Europa League campaigns, the European soccer governing body's president Aleksander Ceferin has said.
The majority of European league seasons were suspended in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic but a few leagues have announced plans for a restart in the coming weeks.
The French and Dutch top-flight campaigns have been cancelled but the German Bundesliga restarted on Saturday and Ceferin expects at least 80% of national leagues to finish their seasons.
The Bundesliga season restarts on May 16, making it the first major European league to resume amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but the German Football League (DFL) said fans will not be allowed in stadiums.
Following are the people allowed inside the stadiums as well as the protocols and requirements for Bundesliga clubs to host matches at their stadiums.
The new Crew Stadium is slowly rising at the center of the Confluence Village neighborhood near downtown Columbus. The $300 million project is slated to open in time for the start of the 2021 stadium, and the latest renderings of the ground look spectacular.
Some visible features include an exclusive Nordecke entrance, which is the safe standing end of the stadium that’ll house the Crew’s supporters’ groups. This area will also have the league’s first beer garden. Hell yes.