Europe’s first elite league to return has planned meticulously but wants to make the most of its moment in the spotlightHere we go. The phrase Geisterspielen – ghost games – is about to become part of international, rather than just German, football nomenclature because on Saturday the Bundesliga will become the first of Europe’s elite leagues to resume in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.It may not be the most endearing way of framing it but there is no escaping that its European counterparts are viewing the Bundesliga as their guinea pig, learning from their best practice and, perhaps, any mistakes. After a few years of spreading its wings, creating an international arm to the business and beginning to chase...
As the German top flight returns from lockdown on Saturday, we give you the lowdown on all nine games• All times BST and broadcast live on BT Sport Continue reading...
The league plans to return this month, but Hertha’s Salomon Kalou and 10 positive Covid tests have weakened its caseIt was expected, and now it’s here. The Bundesliga will be the first of Europe’s major leagues to restart in the second half of May, with the federal government sign-off on Wednesday giving the league freedom to decide on the timetable itself. It had been signposted by the health minister, Jens Spahn, giving verbal approval to the DFL’s detailed safety and hygiene plan this week.The devil, however, is in the detail. Spahn ended by saying that designing a plan and living it out were two different things, and that is exactly what the Bundesliga and its clubs are finding out. On...
The future looks bright after Kai Havertz became the youngest Bundesliga player to reach 30 goals in win over FrankfurtAll things come to those who wait, and they certainly did for Bayer Leverkusen this weekend. They made it back into the top four. They did it by sweeping aside Eintracht Frankfurt who – after beating them 6-1 in the corresponding fixture last spring on their way to pipping Adi Hütter’s side to a Champions League spot – Peter Bosz’s side must have been desperately eager to face again here.Perhaps most importantly they did it with a fresh, vital young lineup that they have been waiting some time to unleash. At long last the teenage Brazilian Paulinho made his first Bundesliga...
An indifferent victory over Paderborn raised the stakes for Hansi Flick, with a run in Europe potentially key to the interim manager keeping the jobIt’ll be alright on the night, they hope. With such a tight race at the top of the Bundesliga, there shouldn’t really have been time for a Bayern Munich dress rehearsal as they get set to restart their Champions League campaign. Yet what they served up on Friday night’s game against Paderborn felt suspiciously like one.There were plenty of fluffed lines. Bayern conceded not one but two improbable equalisers to visitors who were in the third tier the season before last, and whose annual playing budget is so small that nine first-teamers at the Allianz Arena...