Laboratory test starts: Bundesliga opener on Saturday

Now it's time! Just 63 days after the first Corona stop, the Bundesliga is daring to return to everyday life with adapted rules - and is the first major international sports league to be under maximum scrutiny when it restarts. The Cabin video of Herthas Salomon Kalou and flippant shopping story from Augsburg coach Heiko Herrlich - who would actually have to live in strict quarantine with his team - offered a foretaste of the level of fall that threatens those involved even before the resumption. Ignoring the hygiene rules not only has direct consequences, but also brings an entire industry into disrepute and puts the “absolute emergency operation”, according to DFL boss Christian Seifert, in acute danger.

DFL boss Christian Seifert. © APA/afp / ARNE DEDERT

From this Saturday onwards, from the perspective of the German Football League, everything should revolve around football again, but it's not that easy. The restart with ghost games, approved under strict conditions, will be a stress test for the entire league because the focus will be entirely on the active players when the games start at 15.30:XNUMX p.m. Do the substitutes wear face masks? Does everyone use their own water bottle? Do you keep your distance on the bench and when celebrating a goal? Questions that sounded like satire months ago are now determining the success of a carefully developed concept by the DFL task force. The whole world is looking at Germany This also creates a special situation for those responsible. “I've almost never been so tense. We don't know where we stand in terms of sport. Of course, I wonder whether everything we have prepared organizationally will work,” said Borussia Dortmund managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke to the “Funke Mediengruppe”. Bayern coach Hansi Flick emphasized: “The whole world is watching Germany and how we do it.” The coach emphasized that this could have a signaling effect for “all leagues”.

Hansi Flick and Bayern face Union Berlin on Sunday. © Bongarts/Getty Images/Bayern Mün / Alexander Hassenstein

One point of the DFL concept was apparently conceded shortly before the start of the game on Friday. According to the “Bild-Zeitung”, the trainers don’t have to wear a face mask, but only have to maintain a minimum distance of 1,5 meters. DFL director Ansgar Schwenken said: “For the trainers, sufficient distancing is guaranteed if they move at a distance of at least 1,5 meters, detached from other people.” Sporting topics become a side note Sporting topics such as the open championship match or the upcoming Revierderby remained marginal aspects in the week of the restart. When it came to the question of relegation, there was less discussion about the quality of Bremen or Paderborn and more about possible evaluation questions if it had to be canceled in the current crisis. The DFL has initially postponed this sensitive point of contention and is starting its laboratory experiment without a solution, which is intended to isolate those involved in the billion-dollar business as best as possible from the recently increasingly open society for several weeks.

The big goal of the professional clubs is: to finish playing – somehow! Not only does the existence of some clubs depend on the TV millions, but also, according to DFL boss Seifert, the continued existence of the Bundesliga in its current form.

By the way: The conference of Saturday games can be followed live on Sky Sport News HD. This station can also be received freely in South Tyrol. Besides, it's giving up SportNews As always, the live ticker with results and goal scorers in real time. Bundesliga, 26th matchday Saturday, May 16 15.30 clock: Borussia Dortmund-Schalke 04 RB Leipzig – SC Freiburg TSG Hoffenheim – Hertha BSC Fortuna Düsseldorf – Paderborn FC Augsburg – VfL Wolfsburg

18.30 clock: Eintracht Frankfurt – Borussia M'Gladbach Sunday May 17th 15.30 clock: 1. FC Cologne – Mainz 05

18 clock: Union Berlin – FC Bayern Munich Monday, May 18th 20.30 clock: Werder Bremen – Bayer Leverkusen

SP G U V TV P 1. Bayern Munich 25 17 4 4 73:26 55 2. Bor. Dortmund 25 15 6 4 68:33 51 3. RB Leipzig 25 14 8 3 62:26 50 4. Bor. M. Gladbach 25 15 4 6 49:30 49 5. Bayer Leverkusen 25 14 5 6 45:30 47 6. FC Schalke 04 25 9 10 6 33:36 37 7. VfL Wolfsburg 25 9 9 7 34:30 36 8. SC Freiburg 25 10 6 9 34:35 36 9. 1899 Hoffenheim 25 10 5 10 35:43 35 10. 1. FC Cologne 25 10 2 13 39:45 32 11. 1. FC Union Berlin 25 9 3 13 32:41 30 12. Eintracht Frankfurt 24 8 4 12 38:41 28 13. Hertha BSC Berlin 25 7 7 11 32:48 28 14. FC Augsburg 25 7 6 12 36:52 27 15. FSV Mainz 05 25 8 2 15 34:53 26 16. Fortuna Dusseldorf 25 5 7 13 27:50 22 17. Werder Bremen 24 4 6 14 27:55 18 18. SC Paderborn 25 4 4 17 30:54 16

	SP	TV	P
1. Bayer Leverkusen	31	77:22	81
2. Bayern Munich	31	89:38	69
3. VfB Stuttgart	31	70:38	64
4. RB Leipzig	31	73:35	62
5. Bor. Dortmund	31	59:39	57
6. Eintracht Frankfurt	31	47:42	45
View all

	SP	TV	P
1. FC St Pauli	31	57:33	63
2. Holstein Kiel	31	61:37	61
3. Fortuna Dusseldorf	31	65:36	56
4. Hamburger SV	31	59:42	52
5. Karlsruhe SC	31	62:45	49
6. Hannover 96	31	53:39	46
View all

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Laboratory test starts: Bundesliga opener on Saturday

Kalou in the dressing room, wonderful in the supermarket: the past few days have clearly documented the new challenges that await players and coaches in the Bundesliga. The responsibility is great; from now on, the following applies to professional clubs: play football on probation.

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