BERLIN • From social distancing substitutes using airport stairs, to disinfected balls and a potential TV audience of one billion, the German Bundesliga enjoyed a chequered restart over the weekend as the first major sports league to resume amid the coronavirus pandemic.

European football returned on Saturday after a two-month hiatus with a schedule that included the Ruhr Valley derby between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke, with football-starved fans around the world tuned in to watch live action.

Despite a possible global television audience of one billion as predicted by Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, and the hope it gave other sports leagues, including the Italian Serie A and English Premier League, the return of competitive play was not without teething issues.

With a poll for German state broadcaster ARD showing 56 per cent of locals felt restarting the league while the pandemic remains a serious problem was wrong, the Bundesliga made sure its health and safety protocols were strictly enforced, partly out of fear another coronavirus-imposed suspension could prove financially fatal for some of its clubs.

Local police were present at the grounds prior to the start in order to deter people from gathering outside and fears that fans would flout safe distancing measures proved to be unfounded as they stayed away.

Instead of an 81,000-strong crowd packing into Dortmund's Westfalenstadion, it was a mere 300 people, including the players, club staff, officials, broadcasters and security personnel, in every stadium, as part of enhanced rules.

Masks were mandatory for everyone apart from the players, while teams had to change their routines completely, with Leipzig having brought in a set of airport stairs to keep substitutes at a distance in the stands, some 3m higher than the bench where they normally sit.

The Bundesliga also allowed an unprecedented five substitutions per game to mitigate for the lack of match practice and help players cope with burnout issues.

Every shout, scream and thud of the ball bounced off the barren concrete stands and was picked up by the pitchside microphones to create a haunting atmosphere.

The games sounded more like a kick-about in the local park or a training session rather than the recommencement of one of the "Big Five" football leagues.

The missing raucous atmosphere that only the 13th man can provide - an integral part of what makes the Bundesliga the world's best attended football league with an average of 42,000 fans per game, 7,000 more than the Premier League - was not lost on Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke.

His club boasts Europe's biggest standing tribune, the Yellow Wall, yet it was empty as the latest clash between two of German football's fiercest rivals saw the hosts crush Schalke 4-0.

Calling it "unsettling", he said: "There is something surreal about it... you drive through your city and there is absolutely nothing happening. You have to get used to it."

Dortmund coach Lucien Favre added: "There was no noise - you shoot at the goal, make a top pass, score a goal - and nothing happens. That's very, very strange. We really missed our fans. It's hard to judge how good the game was, but the players were very focused."

Still, the soulless stadiums did not stop German fans from tuning in to catch the games on TV and it is clear that the competitiveness of the Bundesliga has not been diluted by the Covid-19 crisis.

The restart attracted over six million domestic viewers, a record for broadcasters Sky, according to specialist website DWDL.de, and more than double the usual audience for a typical round.

There was also no obvious "drop in quality", admitted Freiburg coach Christian Streich, whose side held league challengers RB Leipzig to a surprise 1-1 draw.

While he insisted the situation was far from ideal and "not something that can go on indefinitely", the title is fast turning into a four, if not five-horse race this season, and that can only be a boon for viewers.

Mainz's relegation problems were eased just slightly after two goals in the last half-hour rescued a point in a 2-2 draw at Cologne yesterday, while leaders Bayern Munich travelled to Union Berlin, with the result not known by press time.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS

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