成人论坛

Football's back: Six things we learned from the Bundesliga

Media caption,

English Stuttgart defender Nat Phillips: 'We all grew up playing football without fans'

German football returned this weekend, giving fans a glimpse of what the English Premier League could look like when it's able to restart.

It was the first elite league in Europe to take place in over two months because of the coronavirus pandemic.

However, in order for the games to take place at all, lots of rules had to be brought in including no fans beings at the games.

Newsround caught up with defender Nat Phillips, on loan to Stuttgart from Liverpool, to get his thoughts on the return.

Here are six things we learned from the return of football.

Social Distancing

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

There were 30 match balls, each of them disinfected by ball boys and left on special spots rather than handing them to players

In an attempt to protect the players from any potential harm, lots of new safety rules were brought in.

The teams arrived in several buses so the players could socially distance and all of the players had to wear face masks on their way to the stadium.

For the past week, all of the players had been staying at lockdown hotels to avoid contact with anyone who wasn't taking part in the matches.

Fans were completely banned from the stadiums, with police making sure they weren't congregating outside.

Even the match balls were disinfected at half time!

Silent stands

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Dortmund kept up the tradition of celebrating in-front of the "Yellow Wall" stand

On the pitch, it was business as usual for league leaders Bayern Munich and challengers Borussia Dortmund.

Although, you wouldn't have known it because there were no fans to cheer them on.

Dortmund coach Lucien Favre, said: "There is no noise. You shoot at the goal, you make a great pass, you score, and nothing happens. It's very, very weird."

Despite this, Dortmund still carried on their match day tradition of celebrating in-front of the "yellow wall" stand - which normally has 25,000 fans in it - following their 4-0 win over FC Schalke.

The end of hand-shakes

Image source, Getty Images

There wasn't a handshake in sight as players chose alternative methods to show their respect.

Fist bumps and elbow bumps were the name of the game.

When Bayern Munich's top scorer, Robert Lewandowski, slotted in a penalty for the league leaders against Union Berlin, he decided to elbow bump all of his teammates in celebration.

Wolfsburg players kicked boots with the referee and his assistants, rather than the usual handshakes, following their 2-1 victory at Augsburg.

Living in Haa-Haa-Land

Image source, Getty Images

It was also business as usual for teenage sensation, Erling Braut Haaland, who scored his 13th goal in just 12 games for Dortmund.

After scoring, Haaland decided to do a popular Fifa 20 glitch celebration, which mimicked the popular football games' occasional lag.

In a post-match interview, the 19-year-old used used just 12 words to sum up his feelings before leaving to the dressing room.

Brits abroad

Image source, Getty Images

The biggest British export in the German Bundesliga is Dortmund's 20-year-old superstar, Jadon Sancho.

But, fans of the winger - who has been linked with a move to Manchester United and Chelsea - would have been disappointed because he only played 10 minutes.

On the other side of the pitch was Everton loanee, Jonjoe Kenny, who had a bit of an afternoon to forget as his side shipped in four goals.

Wales international, Rabbi Matondo, was another British player in action for FC Schalke. He came on at half time but was unable to make a difference.

Former Everton man, Ademola Lookman, made the headlines for all the wrong reasons as he missed a great chance to score for RB Leipzig, who ended up only drawing 1-1.

The challenges of working from home

Image source, Getty Images

It wasn't just the players learning to work in new ways.

The game was broadcast live on BT Sport in the UK, and their commentators had to work from home to describe what was happening in the match.

For commentator Paul Dempsey, that meant the game clashed with his home food delivery!

One of his colleagues posted on social media after the game that commentary almost had to be stopped as the delivery driver was banging on his front door!

So, if you're watching any German football and you hear a doorbell in the background, you'll now know why.