The German top two divisions returned on Saturday as football-starved fans around the globe tuned in to watch live action.
BERLIN – From social distancing substitutes using airport stairs, to disinfected balls and a potential television audience of one billion, the Bundesliga enjoyed a chequered restart as the first major sports league to resume amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Despite the possible global audience of a billion as predicted by Bayern Munich boss Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, and the hope it gave other sports leagues, it was not what fans had been hoping for. In Dortmund, Europe's biggest standing tribune, the Yellow Wall stood impressively empty as the latest episode of the fiercest German football rivalry unfolded on the pitch.
"The derby without fans is a new challenge for us but equally complex as a regular game," Dortmund police said before the game, urging fans to stay at home. "Make it easy for us and stay at home."Inside the stadiums masks were mandatory for everyone apart from the players.
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