Complete guide to La Liga’s fast track resumption
Nearly two months since European football returned with the Bundesliga, La Liga follows suit with a plan to fast track the end of the season through games every day.
How it’s going to work
The advantage that Spain, England and Italy have had, is being able to examine what Germany have done and how well it’s worked for them.
Having had very few positive cases of coronavirus amongst players and staff in the top two divisions in Germany since it’s restart, the signs are all positive.
For La Liga, protocols will be like that of Germany, teams have gone through different phases from individual training to now group training.
There has been regular testing and that will continue when the season restarts tomorrow and any player who tests positive for the virus will have to self-isolate for two weeks away from the rest of their team.
The aim is to finish the league by Sunday 19th July with teams playing every couple of days in an effort to finish the season before potential European football resumption in August.
It will no doubt be an enormous physical challenge for players who haven’t played competitive football in three months.
However, for viewers it will feel like a mini tournament with matches every day for just over a month, it’s a football festival from your living room.
As in Germany, all games will be played behind closed doors initially but there has been some suggestion that the league hopes to have fans back in stadiums before the end of the season, all be it with limited ticket allocations.
Although, there are plans from La Liga for broadcasters to make games more entertaining by having virtual fans and fake crowd noise, similar to what you see and hear on FIFA and PES.
How to watch it in the UK
Premier Sports is the place to go if your looking to watch the return of Spanish football and for the month of June, you can watch it all for free.
For Sky TV customers, La Liga TV will be available to watch for free in the month of June through your Sky TV box.
If you are a non-Sky TV customer, then you can watch the games through the Premier Player app for free In June through one of your devices.
Premier Sports are showing 32 live games out of the remaining matches and the initial game to be shown is La Liga’s first game back tomorrow evening between Sevilla and Real Betis.
What is there to play for?
There is still everything to play for in a season where Barcelona and Real Madrid are separated by just two points, European places are all still up for grabs and the relegation battle could go a number of different ways.
Despite both clubs being inconsistent this season, Real Madrid and Barcelona are once again fighting it out for the title and are the only clubs with a realistic chance of winning the league.
Real Madrid suffered a shock defeat to newly promoted Mallorca in October, whilst Barcelona have already lost 5 games this season.
Neither club have set the world alight as they have both struggled being in a transitional period.
A prime example of Real’s inconsistency this season came just before the league’s suspension, when they closed the gap on rivals Barcelona in the El Classico, but then lost 2-1 to Real Betis the following week.
That defeat meant that Barcelona have a two-point lead at the top of the league, despite not beating Real in the league this season.
They will also take comfort from the fact that they have played Real twice already so they don’t have to face a team that is always so difficult to get a result from.
Real Madrid arguably have the better fixture list though as they don’t have to face city rivals Atletico Madrid again whilst Barcelona do, and their only big remaining game is against 4th place Real Sociedad.
9 points adrift of Spain’s two giants is Sevilla and the battle for the last two places in the top four is between 5 teams.
Valencia who are in 7th are four points off 4th place Real Sociedad and 5th placed Getafe with 11 games to play.
Atletico, in 6th, are the other team looking to get into the top four in what has been their worst season in the league since the 2010-11 season where they finished 7th.
It’s been a disappointing season in La Liga by Atletico’s standards. (Getty Images)
Last summer was a massive one for Atletico as their talisman striker Griezmann left for Barcelona and talented young Portuguese player Joao Felix joined from Benfica as his long-term replacement.
However, it hasn’t clicked for Felix or Atletico this season as they have struggled to replicate their form from previous seasons where they have challenged Barcelona and neighbours Real Madrid for the title.
They can take motivation and confidence from their enthralling extra-time victory against holders Liverpool in the Champions League last sixteen just before the season was suspended.
Those performances over the two-legs proved they still have that gritty ability to win when it really matters, and they are going to need that mentality when the league resumes if they are going to challenge Sevilla, Real Sociedad and Getafe for a top four spot.
In third place, Sevilla have taken Atletico’s place in some respects although they haven’t challenged Barcelona and Real Madrid in the same way that Atletico have done in previous seasons.
The main surprise from this seasons top 7 has been Getafe who have exceeded expectations to maintain a strong chance of qualifying for the Champions League.
Although, Real Sociedad are the team to watch this season with their attractive, fast-paced attacking style and with a group of young, talented players.
As for the relegation battle, not even bottom placed Espanyol are without a chance of survival, as they are just 6 points off 17th placed Celta Vigo.
There are several teams that could get pulled into the relegation zone if they aren’t careful, with Alaves in 14th placed the first club that should be too far ahead to go down.
Real Valladolid in 15th, Eibar in 16th and Celta Vigo in 17th are only separated by 3 points and are all at risk of relegation.
Leganes and Mallorca occupy 19th and 18th place, with Mallorca just one point off Celta Vigo and from all important safety.
Therefore, with 11 games remaining and such little time between matches, you can expect many more twists and turns in the fight to remain in Spain’s top division.
Football is well and truly back on our TV screens with Serie A and the Premier League also returning soon, as matches behind closed doors become the new normal.