Football is back : Barcelona return to training

Corona news time. It’s been already over 50 days without football, a timelapse that has passed slowly. While different countries have adopted different policies to battle the coronavirus, flattening the curve in Europe means football could be back soon. Today, Barcelona return to work after the forced break.

Germany officially announced that the Bundesliga will be back by May 16th. With the ‘Rivierderby’ as an opening fixture, featuring archrivals Dortmund and Schalke 05.

Meanwhile, La Liga could be the next out of the top 5 leagues to continue the championship. A tighter schedule, as our players have been tested yesterday, confirming no COVID-19 cases were to be found in our squad, fortunately.

We still have to wait for the first match

The first training took place today, starting at 9:30 AM. Players could be spotted training individually. First without the ball before touching the ball, as it could be seen on Barcelona’s official accounts.

Of course, the next question: When will football come back? According to recent reports, June 20th seems to be the date. A tight schedule will follow with games on Wednesday-Thursday & Saturday-Sunday, at 7:30 and 9:30 PM. However, following insecurities about the players fitness, there will be new rules: 5 substitutes instead of three, two hydration breaks and no time wasting.

These measures could turn out positive. With La Masia offering more depth, it’s very likely to see Setien using La Masia as substitutes at games, with constant games every third day. Eventually, they could impress, thus benefitting the likes of Puig, Collado in the long term.

My main concern, though, is the little time given to Setien for tactical changes. The Cantabrian will have to deal with the stress, preparing for a match every third day. A stressful cadence leaving little time for the manager to adjust his team squad properly.

However, despite this critics, we can’t deny that we are happy to see the next step for football to comeback after a mini pre season.