It has been a busy week for soccer news around the world as leagues announced start dates for resuming their seasons after the COVID-19 pause. The Bundesliga in Germany has given all leagues and governments a blueprint for playing safely and behind closed doors.
Since returning to action on May 16, the Bundesliga has successfully completed four matchweeks without issue.
A few leagues got going in the last week as well with contests starting in Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, Denmark, Serbia, Ukraine, and Austria between May 26 and June 2. Next up are Portugal (June 4) and Greece (June 6/7). As for the main leagues around the world, almost all have now announced a plan.
Canceled/League Completed
Let’s start with the leagues that already announced that their seasons are considered canceled and completed. The biggest of these is Ligue 1 in France, which officially ended on April 28.
Paris Saint-Germain, which had a 12-point lead, was declared champion two dates later, and Marseille and Rennes were awarded the other two Champions League positions.
In the Netherlands, the Eredivisie was abandoned on April 24, with no champion awarded. The top two teams Ajax and AZ were awarded Champions League spots, and there will be no relegation/promotion for this season.
A decision on the Belgian First Division A was delayed three times before Club Brugge were declared champions on May 15 and will be joined in the next Champions League by Gent. The Scottish Premiership was curtailed on May 18, and Celtic declared champions for a ninth consecutive season.
Restarting
The biggest leagues in the world have all announced dates in which they plan to restart if there are no further outbreaks of COVID-19 in their regions. The first of these will be La Liga in Spain, which kicks off June 11 with the Seville Derby.
La Liga will attempt to play 110 games in 39 days to finish their season as Barcelona leads Real Madrid by two points in the table.
The English Premier League is expected to resume June 17 with games that need to be made up from February. All 20 teams will be in action on the weekend of June 19-21 and have nine games left to play.
Liverpool has all but wrapped up the title with a 25-point lead, but there is a six-team battle for the other three Champions League spots and five teams at the bottom hoping to avoid relegation.
Soccer in Italy will return with the Coppa Italia semifinals on June 13-14 and the final on June 17. Serie A play starts the next weekend with four games left from Matchday 25, and all 20 teams will be in action the last week of June.
Juventus has a narrow one-point lead over Lazio while four other squads battle for Champions League berths.
North America
While the plan in Europe appears set, the same cannot be said in North America. We do know that the Liga MX Clausura in Mexico has been canceled as have the MLS All-Star Game, the Campeones Cup, and the Leagues Cup.
MLS has not made an official announcement, but speculation is for a one-site tournament in Orlando, followed by the resumption of the regular season. However, a lockout could be on the horizon if players don’t agree to the latest proposal to pay cute from the league.
