BERLIN • Germany's Bundesliga will attract legions of new armchair fans around the world this weekend, when it becomes the first of Europe's major football leagues to resume after a two-month shutdown due to the coronavirus.
In normal circumstances, the German game, dominated in recent seasons by Bayern Munich, lacks the marketing pull of England's Premier League or Spain's La Liga, which boasts the world's two biggest clubs in terms of revenue - Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Yet, even with a subdued atmosphere - with all games being played behind closed doors to prevent the spread of the coronavirus - the Bundesliga can show its worth to football devotees missing live action around the globe.
Some clubs will use music and cardboard cut-outs of fans to liven up the atmosphere.
"With the Bundesliga as the only league to be broadcast on TV, I expect we will have an audience of a billion," Bayern Munich chief executive officer Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told SportBild magazine.
In Britain, BT Sport is showing all nine Bundesliga matches live this weekend, while football fans in Singapore can catch six games, including the Ruhr valley derby between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04.
"It will most certainly be the most unusual derby in history," Dortmund's head of pro players Sebastian Kehl told Welt newspaper. "This game lives off fans, their emotions, the intensity of the stadium."
Dortmund have always relied on their 80,000 sold-out crowd to inspire them at every home game. But today, Europe's biggest standing tribune - the Yellow Wall, normally packed with 25,000 passionate fans - will be empty.
With nine matches left, Dortmund are on 51 points, four behind table-toppers Bayern Munich and lead the chasing pack.
They are favourites on paper, having won seven of their last eight games. They are spearheaded by Erling Haaland, 19, and Jadon Sancho, 20, arguably two of the most exciting young players in world football.
Bayern, chasing a record-extending eighth straight title, travel to Union Berlin tomorrow.
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GERMAN BUNDESLIGA
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TODAY
Dortmund v Schalke
Ch115 & Ch209, 9.30pm
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Leipzig v Freiburg
Ch116 & Ch210, 9.30pm
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Augsburg v Wolfsburg
Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin
Dusseldorf v Paderborn
Frankfurt v Monchengladbach
Ch115 & Ch209, tomorrow, 12.30am
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TOMORROW
Cologne v Mainz
Ch115 & Ch209, 9.30pm
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Union Berlin v Bayern
Ch115 & Ch209, 11.55pm
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Werder Bremen v Leverkusen
Ch115 & Ch209, Monday, 2.30am
All on Singtel TV and StarHub
The hosts are likely to be without coach Urs Fischer, who on Wednesday left the team's seven-day isolation camp ahead of the season restart.
Teams will be allowed up to five substitutions per match - a new rule designed to address concerns over match fitness and to help sides cope with fixture congestion as they rush to complete the season.
Teams started training sessions for the whole squad only last week, having previously worked in small groups. The clubs want to finish the season by June 30 in order to claim around €300 million (S$463 million) in television money.
"I'm calling it 'flying blind'," Hertha Berlin coach Bruno Labbadia said. "With so few days of preparation, it's impossible to say where we stand."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS,
Bundesliga players to watch this weekend
JADON SANCHO (DORTMUND) V SUAT SERDAR (SCHALKE)
Before the Bundesliga came to a halt, Dortmund forward Sancho, 20, had 14 goals and 15 assists in 23 appearances, becoming the first player across Europe's top five leagues to reach double figures on both counts. The England international reportedly has a £100 million (S$173 million) price tag, with Premier League clubs Manchester United and Chelsea among his suitors.
German defensive midfielder Serdar, 23, has arguably been Schalke's best player as they rebound from their worst top-flight campaign in 36 years last season.
TIMO WERNER (RB LEIPZIG) V LUCA WALDSCHMIDT (FREIBURG)
Leipzig topped the table from December to February and their star man is Werner. The 24-year-old striker has 21 league goals this season and is the subject of a £52 million summer move to Premier League champions-elect Liverpool. He has more goals (four) from fast breaks than any other player in the German top flight.
Fellow German Waldschmidt, 23, could also move to England soon, with Chelsea reportedly keen to sign the forward for £20 million. He has scored Freiburg's opening goal with three of his last four Bundesliga strikes.
FLORIAN NIEDERLECHNER (AUGSBURG) V KOEN CASTEELS (WOLFSBURG)
Forward Niederlechner, 29, has opened the scoring for Augsburg seven times this term, and will be key to their chances of getting a second league win this year.
Wolfsburg captain and goalkeeper Casteels, 27, has two shutouts in his last three league games.
FILIP KOSTIC (FRANKFURT) V FLORIAN NEUHAUS (MONCHENGLADBACH)
Kostic, 27, experienced the highs of reaching last season's Europa League semi-finals with Frankfurt and has maintained his good form. The Serb can operate as a winger and wing-back and already has a season-best 12 goals and 15 assists. His 140 crosses from open play is a league high.
Midfielder Neuhaus, 23, became a household name in Germany in 2016, when he scored the winner in a youth match from the halfway line. He has since gone from strength to strength, becoming a key part of Marco Rose's squad.
JHON CORDOBA (COLOGNE) AND ROBIN QUAISON (MAINZ)
Colombian Cordoba, 27, is Cologne's top scorer and has nine goals in his last 12 games.
Mainz have become something of a feeder club and fans will fear top striker Quaison, 26, might be the next to move on.
SEBASTIAN ANDERSSON (UNION BERLIN) V ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI (BAYERN)
Swedish striker Andersson's goals got Berlin into the top flight and the 28-year-old has 11 for the Bundesliga debutants this term.
Lewandowski, 31, the league's top scorer, has 14 more and is looking to add to his tally after recovering from injury.
MILOT RASHICA (WERDER BREMEN) AND KAI HAVERTZ (LEVERKUSEN)
Aston Villa, West Ham and Wolves are reportedly all keen on signing Rashica, 23, who has 25 caps with Kosovo, this summer.
Another talent being watched is Havertz, 20, and Leverkusen may lose the attacker. Liverpool and Chelsea are keeping tabs on the German international, who has 10 goals and eight assists.
REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
