Human Interest

Valencia has criticized Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini for taking charge of his side's Champions League match against the Spanish side in March despite suffering from symptoms of the novel coronavirus.

Gasperini told Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport on Sunday that he felt ill on the day before the last-16 second leg match in Valencia on March 10, which was played without spectators as northern Italy was then the epicenter of the virus in Europe.

He also confirmed he has since tested positive from an antibodies test.

Like all lower division soccer clubs, the COVID-19 pandemic pushed Minneapolis City SC into dangerously uncharted waters. The club, which was founded in 2016, plays in the fourth tier NPSL. Back in late March, the season was cancelled and the team’s highly anticipated U.S. Open Cup first round match against Chicago FC United was postponed indefinitely.

Gladbach took care of business against Union Berlin on Sunday with a comfortable 4-1 victory. The biggest talking point of the match came in the 41st minute, when Alassane Pléa found Marcus Thuram for a well-placed header and the Frenchman quietly celebrated in a powerful way.

Alassane Pléa → Marcus Thuram@borussia_en's French connection strikes again pic.twitter.com/33rXCHv7nc

After protests erupted across the U.S. this past week, Schalke’s American midfielder Weston McKennie has joined in from Germany. The 21-year-old Texas native wore a “Justice for George” armband during Saturday’s match with Werder Bremen, showing support for George Floyd, who died in police hands on Monday in Minneapolis.

The year 2020 is the nightmare we can’t seem to wake up from. Outrage swept the country after a video captured four Minneapolis police officers arresting George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, on Monday. One of the officers held his knee to Floyd’s neck for nine minutes while he screamed “I can’t breathe.” Floyd died shortly after while in police custody.

After weeks of wrangling, with several U-turns on the way, Italy is due to decide on Thursday if and when its top-flight Serie A soccer league can resume after the coronavirus stoppage. 

Possibly encouraged by seeing how Germany's Bundesliga has restarted without problems so far, the Italian government appears to have relaxed its position recently. 

The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) will return to action in late June with a 25-game tournament in Utah that will be played in empty stadiums due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The NWSL, which delayed the start of its season because of the coronavirus, said it has worked with team doctors and public health officials to develop testing protocols to ensure a safe environment for its nine teams during the month-long tournament. 

Broadcasters have not been getting "bang for their buck" from Australian soccer in recent years and creative solutions are urgently needed to revitalize the game, former Socceroos defender Craig Moore has told Reuters. 

Moore, who is spearheading the "Golden Generation" group pressing for change in Australian soccer, said COVID-19 had heaped more pressure on administrators already battling to reverse declines in ratings and crowds. 

LaLiga president Javier Tebas has said he hopes a derby between Real Betis and Sevilla will kick the Spanish top-flight season back into action on June 11 after being paused for three months during the coronavirus pandemic. 

"There is a possibility that there is a game on June 11, which would be the only match that night and perhaps there will be a tribute to all the people who have died (from the virus)," Tebas told Spanish television network Movistar on Sunday. "I hope that date can be confirmed and we would like the game to be the Seville derby, kicking off at 10pm."