Germany

BERLIN — From social distancing substitutes using airport stairs, to disinfected balls and a potential television audience of one billion, the Bundesliga enjoyed a chequered restart as the first major sports league to resume amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

German soccer's top two divisions, suspended since mid-March due to the coronavirus, returned on Saturday with a schedule that included the Bundesliga's showcase — the Ruhr valley derby between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 — as football-starved fans around the world tuned in to watch live action.

American teenager Giovanni Reyna suffered an injury Saturday while warming up for his first start in the Bundesliga.

 Our Starting XI against S04 

Gio Reyna will make his first official start for BVB  pic.twitter.com/bKSxcSPYbq

— Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow) May 16, 2020

We knew it would be weird. We knew it would be a new normal. We knew we didn’t care.

Major European football returned from a two-month hiatus as the Bundesliga kicked off with six matches on Saturday, none bigger than the Revierderby between Ruhr rivals Borussia Dortmund and Schalke. 

Dortmund, without its menacing Yellow Wall behind it, throttled Schalke 4-0, instituting its own form of social distancing on the scoreboard. 

The gaze of the sporting world will fall on Germany this weekend as the Bundlesliga becomes the first major soccer league to emerge from the shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

All 18 clubs will crank back into action in what could act as a catalyst for other leagues to follow suit.

The Bundesliga season restarts on May 16, making it the first major European league to resume amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but the German Football League (DFL) said fans will not be allowed in stadiums. 

Following are the people allowed inside the stadiums as well as the protocols and requirements for Bundesliga clubs to host matches at their stadiums. 

There’s something special, unique and even eerie about watching a professional soccer match with no spectators in an empty, cavernous stadium. 

For some, this ruins the experience. What’s football without the fans?

For others, this presents an opportunity.

Without noisy fans muddying the audio waves, a TV crew’s microphones are able to pick up almost every little sound coming from the pitch, be it profanities shouted at the refs or a coach yelling at his team to make a tactical adjustment.

Bundesliga teams will be allowed up to five substitutions per match when it restarts on Saturday after the coronavirus stoppage, while teams will be relegated provided the season is completed, the German Football League (DFL) said on Thursday.

Short-term venue changes will also be permitted if health reasons dictate such a need and the season will continue beyond its re-scheduled finish date of June 30 and into July if necessary, the DFL said following a general assembly.