What Do Early Results Show About Playing in Empty Stadiums?
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The German Bundesliga has been back in action for two weeks following the suspension of the league due to the outbreak of coronavirus. It is fantastic to have some high quality live football back on television and things appear to be running as smoothly as can be expected in the current environment.
Players and fans have been adhering to the new rules which are in place including no fans inside the stadium or surrounding the stadium and no goal celebrations which involve players coming to together.
Many of the other leagues around Europe and the world will be looking on and hoping to take inspiration from what they have managed to do in Germany. La Liga in Spain is a good example and it is believed they have received details from the Bundesliga about how they have gone about resuming professional football in the country.
However, while every team will be able to fulfil all of their home fixtures, they must do it without any fans inside the stadium. Having enjoyed two weeks of action in the Bundesliga, what do results show in terms of playing behind closed doors?
We have had 18 completed matches in the Bundesliga since it resumed on the 16th of May. During that time, we have witnessed just 3 home wins. That compares to 7 home wins in the 18 games played prior to the suspension of the league. Two of the 3 home wins since the 16th of May were by the top two teams in the division, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.
Looking at the away results and we see that since the resumption of the Bundesliga there have been 10 away wins in 18 matches. That compares to just 4 away wins in the previous 18 games when fans were still allowed inside the stadiums. It is only early days and teams and players are still getting used to playing behind closed doors but could this be a trend we are going to see continue until the end of the season?
If so, it could spell bad news for teams who were relying on their home matches to keep or pull them out of trouble. Union Berlin are good example and 6 of their 9 victories in the Bundesliga this season have come at home. They have been cheered all the way by their support following promotion last season but that has now been removed for the remainder of the campaign. However, for a team like Werder Bremen who have been struggling to perform in front of their own fans this season it may come as a blessing in disguise to play in an empty stadium.
It will be interesting to follow the trend of home and away victories throughout the remainder of the Bundesliga season. Will it have an impact on which teams go down?
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