May 12th Daily Update

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Despite the majority of football leagues being at a standstill, everyday I will bring updates of what is going on in football leagues around the world.
  • England: League Managers Association chief executive Richard Bevan states that the Premier League will be cancelled if a minimum of seven clubs don't agree to playing at neutral grounds. The neutral grounds will be in stadiums where the local population is less dense to avoid crowds outside the stadiums. However the good news for England is that the government gave the go ahead for matches to start from June 1st.
   The Emirates Stadium 
                                   Image Source: Arsenal Facebook Page                                          
  • Italy:  Italian teams will start team training next Monday on May 18 as individual training began on May 4th. However on May 6 an unidentified Torino FC player got tested positive for COVID-19. A day later three players and three staff members from the Serie A side ACF Fiorentina were tested positive. To make things worse, before these confirmed cases, the Minister for Sport Vincenzo Spadaforo declared last week that resuming the 2019/20 Serie A season is “becoming increasingly unlikely”. According to Football Italia, all Serie A teams expect for Brescia and Torino have agreed to resume the season. The government has yet to make a decision on if the league should resume matches.

Turkish midfielder Hakan Çalhanoğlu training with AC Milan incase the Serie A resumes.
Image Source: AC Milan Facebook Page

  • Spain: Spanish football clubs have returned to training on May 4th and started with individual practice. La Liga president Javier Tebas stated that he would like to resume the 2019-2020 season on June 12. Despite five La Liga players being tested positive for COVID-19, Tebas says that the risk during matches is “virtually non-existent” and hopes for the league to be completed by the end of July. During this time matches are expected to be played everyday for six weeks behind closed doors.
Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos training
Image Source: Real Madrid C.F Facebook Page

  • Germany: It was announced on May 7 by the federation that the Bundesliga & Bundesliga 2 will resume matches on May 16th. On Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave the green light for the Bundesliga & Bundesliga 2 to resume matches behind closed doors and leaving it up to the German Federation to decide on the date to restart. The leagues will be finished by June 27th. There are already some big games to look forward to as on May 16th the Revierderby between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke will be watched around the world. On the same day RB Leipzig host Freiburg and on May 17, Bayern Munich travel to the capital to face Union Berlin.

Borussia Monchengladbach will have cardboard cutouts of fans during the games.
Image Source: Borussia Global Facebook Page


  • France: As of April 28th, all French leagues won't continue the 2019-2020 season. 
    • Ligue 1:
      • PSG were declared 2019-2020 Ligue 1 champions 
      • 2nd place Marseille will join PSG in the Champions League group stages 
      • Rennes will be in the 3rd qualifying round
      • 4th place Lille will compete in next season's Europa League 
      • Remaining two Europa League spots remain up in the air.
    • Cup Competitions:
      • The Coupe de France and the Coupe de la Ligue Final can determine the two remaining Europa League spots. 
      • LFP director general Didier Quillot stated that there is a possibility of the domestic cup finals to take place in August. 
    • Ligue 2:
      • Lorient won the Ligue 2 will be promoted to the Ligue 1 with 2nd place Lens
      • Bottom two Ligue 1 teams Amiens and Toulouse will be relegated to the Ligue 2
      • Hasn't been a decision on if the bottom two teams Le Mans & Orleans will get relegated to the Championnat National.
        • The decision on these clubs fate will be decided on May 20th at the general assembly of the French Football Federation (FFF).
  • Championnat National (3rd tier):
    • A decision hasn't been made yet if teams will be promoted from and relegated to the Championnat National.

PSG declared winners of the 2019-2020 Ligue 1 season
Image Source: Ligue 1

  • Portugal: 
    • Primeira Liga (1st tier): 
      • As of May 2nd the Primeira Liga will officially resume the 2019-2020 season on May 30th, becoming the first major league to restart. 
      • The remaining 10 rounds of fixtures will be behind closed doors 
      • Porto and Benfica are currently fighting for the top spot.
    • Taça de Portugal Final
      • Porto vs Benfica
      • Exact date and time unknown 
    • LigaPro (2nd tier):
      • Top two teams CD Nacional and Farense get promoted to the Primeira Liga since the 2019-2020 season for the LigaPro is declared finished.
      • However it is unsure that the leagues below will resume matches.

Benfica players training as their matches began in the end of May
Image Source: Sport Lisboa e Benfica Facebook Page



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