GOOD BUT NOT BETTER

MICHAEL RENOUF CONSIDERS THE PROS AND CONS OF THE END-OF-SEASON TOURNAMENT APPROACH TO THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE AND EUROPA LEAGUE...

- MICHAEL RENOUF

IT’S safe to say 2020 was a football year like no other in living memory.

We have had individual leagues suspended due to national disasters before, such as Japan’s J1 league after the earthquake and consequent tsunami that shocked the nation, but never a situation that affected so much of the world at the same time.

Within Europe, Italy was the first nation to suspend football, with other countries soon taking action, often playing in empty stadiums before bringing their season to a grinding halt (the only European country not to take note was Belarus, whose league carried on as if nothing had happened).

Of what are considered the six most important leagues on the continent, two - the French and Dutch - would not resume.

In France, PSG, with a 12-point lead plus a game in hand, were crowned champions for the seventh time in the last eight seasons.

In Holland, where there was a much tighter race, they decided not to declare a title winner but did use the positions at the time of the stoppage to decide who would be playing in the European competitions for the 2020-21 season. Slowly the other major leagues came back. First of all, the German Bundesliga in May, followed in June by Spain’s La Liga, the English Premier League and eventually Serie A of Italy, all four of which would be played to a finish.

One of the things I hope football has learned from this strangest of years is how much fans are needed, not only for the atmosphere for those lucky enough to be in the stadium but also for those perched on their settees at home watching on television.