Bundesliga will return on May 16; How this season will be played

The Bundesliga will return on May 16 during the coronavirus pandemic and the German Football Association (DFL) want to finish the season by June 30. It is the first European league to restart following the coronavirus shutdown.

Germany’s government on Wednesday gave the green light for the Bundesliga to return and left the decision of the arrival date to the DFL. At an Ordinary Assembly on Thursday, the 36 clubs of the upper two levels concurred the first match will be played on May 16 to finish the season by June 30.

The Bundesliga was suspended just before matchday 26 on March 13, and the DFL consented to proceed with the standard calendar. All games will be held behind closed doors during a prohibition on mass gatherings in Germany until Aug. 31.

Among the matches to be played when the Bundesliga returns on May 16 will be the Revierderby between Borussia Dortmund and FC Schalke 04, with the two sets of fans having a long-standing contention.

Leaders Bayern Munich will be a way to Union Berlin on May 17 and the Klassiker between Dortmund and Bayern is set to be played on May 26 or 27. Bayern Munich are competing for an eighth back to back the title and hold a four-point lead over Borussia Dortmund.

RB Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Monchengladbach complete the five teams competing for Bundesliga’s four Champions League places.

Schalke, Wolfsburg, Freiburg, Hoffenheim, and Cologne are fighting for a maximum of two Europa League places, while at the bottom, Paderborn and Werder Bremen need to make up a six-and four-point gap, respectively, to arrive at the relegation playoff place, which is held by Fortuna Dusseldorf.

While the DFL would like to finish the league by June 30, the playoff between the 16th placed Bundesliga club and the third-placed Bundesliga 2 club is gotten ready for July.

In any case, with limitations still in place across Germany, how will the Bundesliga get back up to speed with the world looking on?

When will the Bundesliga season resume?

The season will continue on Saturday, May 16 with the Revierderby, the derby between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 at the Westfalonstadion, as decided by a meeting of clubs on Thursday.

Already, there had been plans for a two-week quarantine period in front of a resumption to guarantee any players or staff experiencing coronavirus had recuperated, yet Chancellor Angela Merkel has said the nation’s testing capacity implies this won’t be important. “Testing is regular there, so the quarantine period is not set to 14 days,” she said.

Will we get back on track?

The Bundesliga was interrupted after the 25th matchday, so will get from where it left off – notwithstanding worries about hosting the Dortmund-Schalke derby while coronavirus is still so common, with the chance of fan congregations prompting an expansion in diseases.

The Bundesliga will begin again on Saturday, May 16, with the Revierderby between Dortmund and Schalke.

Saturday, May 16

• Borussia Dortmund vs Schalke
• RB Leipzig vs Freiburg
• Hoffenheim vs Hertha Berlin
• Fortuna Dusseldorf vs Paderborn
• Augsburg vs Wolfsburg
• Eintracht Frankfurt vs Borussia Monchengladbach

Sunday, May 17

• Cologne vs Mainz
• Union Berlin vs Bayern Munich

Monday, May 18

• Werder Bremen vs Bayer Leverkusen

How will the Bundesliga play catch-up after the delay?

The present arrangement is for the Bundesliga to play out its final nine games by June 30. Bundesliga CEO Christian Seifert has reported that the top-flight season will mean to complete on Saturday, June 27 with 2. Bundesliga culminating on June 28.

June 30 isn’t the ultimate deadline, however, when a few players’ agreements are expected to expire – which would make life more complicated if the season is as yet progressing.

Midweek games are to play across about fourteen days to permit Werder Bremen and Eintracht Frankfurt to play their game close by.

It has been reported for the DFB have plans to play the semi-finals of the DFB Pokal, the German FA Cup, before the finish of June as well – which would mean fitting 10 rounds of games into seven weeks, which means three-midweek rounds might be required to meet the finish of-June date.

How will the set-up work?

A great part of the points of interest are still to be declared and more detail will get evident in the fallout from Thursday’s meeting, however safe to say there won’t be fans permitted into stadiums.

Players will be tested once every week, the day before games, or two times every week on account of midweek games. On the off chance that a player tests positive for coronavirus, they will be quarantined for 14 days alongside anybody they have been in contact with although it has been focused on this doesn’t really mean the entirety of their colleagues will be quarantined as well.

A maximum of 300 individuals will be permitted into every stadium, a maximum of 100 into the ‘interior’, 100 into the concourse, and a further 100 around the perimeter.

It has been announced for players will drive to home games as opposed to travel together, while individuals carriers will acquire them in small groups to away matches It has likewise been announced for clubs will be visited by medical professionals without notice to ensure they are watching rules after Salomon Kalou was suspended for breaching protocol by Hertha Berlin a week ago.

Seifert uncovered that the possibility of five substitutes for every team is being considered for the rest of the matches while no fan get-togethers will be permitted outside the stadiums.

What is the situation league-wise?

Not at all like in England, it’s relatively tightly poised at the top – Bayern Munich lead Borussia Dortmund by four points, with RB Leipzig one behind and Borussia Monchengladbach another behind them. Down at the bottom SC Paderborn are two points adrift, yet 17th-placed Werder Bremen, in the second ensured relegation spot, are four behind Fortuna Dusseldorf, who possess the relegation play-off spot in 16th.

Neville: Bundesliga can be ‘live rehearsal’ for England

Gary Neville revealed to The Football Show the resumption of football in Germany would work as a strong marker for the Premier League about how best domestic football can get back ready for action in England.

He stated: “I’ll be hopeful the Premier League are on their way over to Germany somehow, to see how it operates and understand how it goes, and be in consultation with the clubs’ medical professionals and doctors over there, but I can’t imagine they’re not.

“Even a broadcast point of view, how the media works, I’m sure Sky will be talking with our colleagues in Germany about how we deliver this.

“There’s a lot of intelligence you can pick up from Germany, while those players are in the early-phase, non-contact type programs, the Bundesliga players will be in a different program, tackling, heading, grappling for space, and that can be a live rehearsal for what happens in England.”