DUSSELDORF, Germany (AP) – A new statistic is attracting the attention of Bundesliga fans: expected targets, distance traveled or pass accuracy, but coronavirus infection rate.
The return of enthusiasts to the German football league last week was a problem. If there are too many infections in the host city, a circuit breaker rule comes into effect and enthusiasts are banned from returning, causing club chaos.
Schalke enthusiasts face uncertainty about their ability to watch Saturday’s first home game of the season against Werder Bremen. despite a slight decline on Thursday.
Last week, high infection rates prevented Bayern Munich from welcoming enthusiasts who opposed Schalke at the opening of the season after the mayor said he would send the message.
Less than 24 hours before Cologne welcomed the Hoffenheim in front of the enthusiasts, the circuit breaker tripped. Within an hour’s drive, Borussia Dortmund greeted 9,300 fans in their 3-0 win over Borussia Monchengladbach.
The magic number is 35 new instances consisting of 100,000 inhabitants over a seven-day period consistent with the year. Higher up, and the games will be played without fans. Schalke’s hometown of Gelsenkirchen was at 39. 1 on Wednesday and 37. 6 on Thursday, according to the Robert Koch Institute. National centres in Germany for disease control.
The breakup rule was a compromise that added tense discussions among state politicians last week, just before the start of the league season. Otherwise, enthusiasts can attend up to 20% of the stadium’s capacity, although some local officials have set their own decline. Limits.
Apart from Schalke, all other Bundesliga matches this weekend have at least some fans at home, such as Arminia Bielefeld’s first home match in the first department since 2009 against Cologne and Borussia Dortmund’s stopover in Augsburg on Saturday and Hoffenheim receiving Bayern on Sunday.
Uncertainty about enthusiasts is what puts pressure on Schalke in a calamitous 2020 for the club. He hasn’t won a league game since January and has fallen 8-0 in the last 16 Champions League games in March 2019. To Bayern last week. He has scored only nine Bundesliga goals all year.
Pressure is increasing on Schalke’s coach David Wagner, who is in the third longest winless streak (17) of all Bundesliga coaches, according to league statistics. Jochen Schneider, the club’s sporting director, said he expects more from training before the match against Bremen.
“I expect a transparent increase in functionality and that this will be reflected in the result,” Schneider said Saturday.
The Schalke has more to lose if enthusiasts can’t return. The coronavirus ended the day of the attack and helped spread the club’s fragile monetary situation, prompting warnings that Schalke could face insolvency if he did not act. he spent this season and sold American midfielder Weston McKennie to Juventus.
This follows years in which the club spent more of its means on a bet that it could qualify for the Champions League and the resulting television revenue, which Schalke has controlled only once since 2015. to fight for any European ranking, control of the club has admitted it.
Saturday’s clash against Bremen is a meeting of two former challengers, either in crisis. Bremen only moved away from relegation last season with a second-place win in the playoffs over Heidenheim and lost their first 4–1 victory in 2020-21 over Hertha Berlin. .
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