Fans grace European leagues’ pitch battle

Article posted by Coliseum, May 26^th, 2021

Image: Twitter

It was the last game of the season for several European league clubs recently. COVID-19 which has caused a lot of ravage in several European nations till not so long back led to soccer matches being played in empty stadia. However, few European countries greeted fans back.

Germany

Bundesliga

The 2020-2021 Bundesliga was the 58^th season of the Bundesliga, Germany’s premier football competition. It began on September 18^th, 2020 and concluded on May 22^nd, 2021.

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Germany was the first major European league to return amid the COVID-19 clobber in May 2020 but the roar of fans were missing from the stadia except for few pilots in the early part of the Bundesliga season. Soon, the coronavirus shadow fell on Germany and Bundesliga fixtures again became a closed door affair!

The top-flight Bundesliga club FC Bayern played its last game of the season against its peer team FC Augsburg on May 22^nd at the 75,000-capacity Allianz Arena (Germany) and the fixture took place in the presence of 250 football fiends.

The ‘Sport Bild’ stated that the German association football club FC Hansa Rostock played the last game of the season against VfB Lübeck with 7,500 fans in attendance at Ostseestadion on May 22^nd, 2021. The Ostseestadion is the home stadium of FC Hansa Rostock, a German association football club, located in the City of Rostock, Germany. It has a capacity of 29,000. The matchup ended in a 1-1 draw.

A 1-1 draw with regional rivals VfL Lübeck proved sufficient for FC Hansa Rostock to secure second-place in the 2020-2021 3. Bundesliga’s table.

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom was blighted by the COVID-19 variant till few months back leading to huge loss of lives. But, with a very well managed vaccination rollout program, the country is gradually making its exit from one of the toughest lockdown clamped by the Boris Johnson Government.
Slowly, everything is opening up which includes stadia.

Premier League

‘football.london’ stated that the Premier League (the top flight of English football) team Arsenal F.C. welcomed 10,000 supporters back to its home venue fold – Emirates Stadium – for their final Premier League game of the season against Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.

Prior to this, ‘the Gunners’ last game with fans in attendance was in December 2020 when supporters were in Emirates Stadium for Arsenal F.C.’s game against the Austrian football club Rapid Vienna.

The Emirates Stadium is a football stadium in Highbury, England, and the home of Arsenal. With a capacity of 60,704 it is the fourth-largest football stadium in England after Wembley Stadium, Old Trafford and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The Premier League team Manchester United F.C. played in front of 10,000 football fiends on May 18^th as the home team drew 1-1 with the Championship club Fulham F.C. at the former’s digs – Old Trafford.

The ‘Manchester United’ stated that the team stepped on to the pitch to the roar and chants of fans.

The Old Trafford is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,140 seats, it is the largest club football stadium in the United Kingdom, and the 11^th-largest in Europe.

Stamford Bridge opened its doors to 8,000 home fans as the Premier League club Chelsea F.C. posted a 2-1 win over its peer team Leicester City F.C.

The 41,837-capacity Stamford Bridge is a football stadium in Fulham, adjacent to the borough of Chelsea in South West London, commonly referred to as ‘The Bridge’. It is the home of Chelsea Football Club, which competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English football.

Barring few pilots which were played in December 2020, the games played on May 18^th saw the return of fans to Premier League fixtures for the first time since March 9^th, 2020 when coronavirus spelt disaster on the world and everything got shuttered.

France

Ligue 1

Ligue 1 is a French professional league for men’s association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country’s primary football competition. Administrated by the Ligue de Football Professionnel, Ligue 1 is contested by 20 clubs and operates on a system of promotion and relegation from and to Ligue 2.

‘yahoo!sport’ stated that the French professional football club Lille won the Ligue 1 title on May 23^rd thanks to a 2-1 victory at Angers (City in France) which ensured they were crowned French champions for the first time since 2011 on the final day of the season. However, the club has won the French Ligue 1 title for the fourth time.

Lille finished one point ahead of second-placed Paris Saint-Germain in the gripping finale.

The Paris Saint-Germain Football Club is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football.

Though the French President Emmanuel Macron announced that sports venues will be able to reopen from May 19^th as the country seeks to come out of its latest COVID-19 lockdown, but the battle royale was a closed-door affair. But, fans poured into the streets of Lille to celebrate at the final whistle.

Supporters of Lille football club, who celebrated in their thousands in the northern French City on the night of May 23^rd after the team clinched the French league championship, have been warned to reduce their contacts and take a test for COVID-19 infection.

Ligue 1 team AS Monaco managed to claim third place in the standings and secure their spot in next season’s Champions League though only managing to draw 0-0 with Ligue 1 team RC Lens.

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