It was May 16. While, due to the Covid-19 epidemic, Europe was still at a standstill, the Bundesliga became the first major continental championship to resume its course. Without public and under high health surveillance. It ends this Saturday, on an 8th coronation in a row from Bayern Munich, with the 34th day. During this period, no new cases of Covid-19 were identified.
But what conclusions can be drawn from these 8 days contested in a month and a half? Patrick Guillou, BeIN Sports’ number one consultant for the German championship, and Jonathan Schmid, the midfielder of SC Freiburg who scored a goal this Saturday against Schalke 04, analyze this end of the season like no other.
A declining level of play
We expected a closed game. It was quite the opposite at the beginning. The first 4 days offered a nice bouquet of goals, respectively 27, 32, 25 and 31 goals (in 9 games). “For me, the level was as intense as before the shutdown due to confinement,” says Jonathan Schmid. The teams have delivered more and there are more goals. The quality was there. We also saw that the lack of support from supporters had an impact on home results (only 20% success). “
“During the first 3-4 days after the resumption, there were matches with large intensities and large volumes of races, kilometers covered by teams above average with very high intensity sprints also above average , says Patrick Guillou. After that, it went down and we entered a usual level. I think there was an excitement at the start then a physical tiredness and a psychological aftermath. “
No more injuries than usual
Excluding Schalke 04 (which counted a dozen players injured during this period), we did not note a spectacular progression of injuries as one might have supposed. “The new 5-change rule helped us a lot, it was a very good idea, insists Jonathan Schmid. We also trained intensively to be ready for the recovery. “
“I expected more muscle injuries but they remained average, this is due in particular to the remarkable physical preparations, especially at Bayern, says Patrick Guillou. I was also thinking of more concussion shocks because the players did not have the same timing in duels due to a long stoppage. “
Audience side, a record and then …
On May 16, during the resumption, the 26th day had been watched by more than 6 million viewers on Sky Sport Deutschland. A week later, the German channel still attracted 5.8 million people. “The wait was important, life was taking over and everyone was waiting for that,” says Patrick Guillou. There was a big stake for the title until Bayern’s victory in Dortmund. Then the audiences went down. “
Thuram and Benjamin Pavard on top
Marcus Thuram was one of the first athletes in Europe to pay tribute to Georges Floyd, by kneeling on the ground for long seconds to celebrate a goal. But, for his first season in the Bundesliga, Lilian’s eldest son also stood out in the game, scoring 10 goals and 9 assists. His statistics could even have swelled still without a left ankle injury two weeks ago.
“Marcus has integrated perfectly into German football and has been very effective,” said Jonathan Schmid. As for Benjamin Pavard, who arrived at Bayern from Stuttgart during the off-season, he has shown how to be indispensable. “He is serious and very solid. I find that he questioned himself and he changed his game, ”says Patrick Guillou.
The world champion can dream of an exceptional season with Bayern. With a final of the German Cup against Leverkusen on July 4 then the Champions League in August with first a round of 16 return against Chelsea (success 0-3 first leg). “The arrival of new coach Hans-Dieter Flick during the season has transformed this team, judge Patrick Guillou. The quality of play is excellent. They are among the favorites at C1. “They can go to the final but I see PSG instead,” predicts Jonathan Schmid.
