Soccer is Back
by Eddy Carrillo
While we all live in one world and share a deep passion for the game of soccer, the Coronavirus pandemic is impacting countries differently. As the US continues to prepare for the return of professional sports amid the increase of cases, 3 of the top soccer leagues have moved forward. In a world, where champions are declared without their season finishing, it is a relief knowing that La Liga and Serie A are coming back as the German Bundesliga has already been back for a month.
German soccer or fussbol as the Germans call it, has returned in full force as they have brought back the DFB Pokal, Bundesliga, and 2.Bundesliga. They came back mid-May and so far Bayern Munich has continued its dominance in both the Bundesliga and the DFB Pokal taking their lead to 10 points from 2nd place Borussia Dortmund. Robert Lewandowski continues to slide into the Balon D’Or conversation with his goal tally of 31 goals in 29 matches in the league.
Speaking of Balon D’Or, another expected candidate, Cristiano Ronaldo and the rest of the Serie A has returned to full training as well as finishing up the Coppa Italia. They finished up both the semi final matches between Milan and Juventus, and Napoli and Inter. Yesterday we got a match between Maurizio Sarri and his old club, Napoli which ended with Napoli besting Juventus in PK’s 4–2 with Cristiano Ronaldo not even allowed to take a penalty as Juventus were saving their best kicker last. The Serie A will return on June 20th with the first match back from the pandemic being between 9th place Parma and 15th place Torino.
The third most popular candidate, Lionel Messi continues to ignite the fire of his candidacy as he came back with 2 goals and 2 assists in 2 games. The La Liga title continues to be a two horse race between Barcelona and Real Madrid as there are only 2 points separating them, and 13 points separating 1st place Barcelona and 3rd place Sevilla. Another big piece of news is the return of Eden Hazard and Luis Suarez as they both suffered long term injuries and are both fully match fit. Eden Hazard looks ready to break out as he put in a great performance with an assist for Sergio Ramos. Suarez on the other hand looks like he needs a little more time to get match fit as he is only getting limited minutes in both games.
Soccer is back and all us soccer enthusiasts could not be happier. As soccer leagues continue to reintegrate themselves into society during this pandemic, it is a good time to be grateful for what we have now.
What are you grateful for?
What are you looking forward to?
Let’s continue to stay safe and healthy so we can all return to the stadiums and support our favorite teams.
Eddy Carrillo is a Zag Alumni and soccer enthusiast! He is a member of the Bobble Sports marketing team and a blogger.
