Spain

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." 

BARCELONA — Spanish soccer's top flight division La Liga can return to action from June 8 after being disrupted by the novel coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Saturday.

All organised soccer in Spain was provisionally suspended on March 12 although clubs in the top two divisions have since returned to group training.

La Liga has yet to officially confirm a date on which it will resume, although its president Javier Tebas had said previously he hoped the season could do so from June 12.

Spain coach Luis Enrique is no fan of playing matches without spectators as leagues begin to return in empty stadiums after being disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Playing matches without supporters is sadder than dancing with your sister," Luis Enrique said in an interview for Spanish basketball show Colgados del Aro.

Last weekend the Bundesliga became the first major European league to resume action and players were unable to celebrate goals together to reduce the risk of infection while stadiums normally packed with boisterous supporters were left bare.

LaLiga will use a video analysis program to help it determine if a player is likely to have infected a teammate or opponent if they test positive for the coronavirus once the season re-starts, according to a draft protocol drawn up by the league.

The protocol, seen by Reuters, was sent out to clubs in Spain's top two divisions on Monday and is an updated version of the document clubs received earlier this month.

After beginning individual training at club facilities earlier this month, Spain moved one step closer to the resumption of LaLiga and Segunda División play after teams began training in groups of up to 10 players on Monday.

According to LaLiga president Javier Tebas, the league is still hoping to return to action on June 12, but clubs will need the approval of the government’s department of health before advancing from small groups to full training.

Regardless, Tebas said that LaLiga has taken inspiration from Germany’s successful return to the pitch.

BARCELONA — Lionel Messi believes he is better off not thinking too much about the risk of being infected by the coronavirus as Spanish soccer clubs step up their return to activity, saying he looks forward to getting back to playing matches.

Messi and his Barcelona teammates have been back at the club's training ground conducting individual sessions since last week, following LaLiga's four-phase protocol for returning to activity since it was halted in March due to the pandemic.

Joan Laporta has said he will seek to bring former manager Pep Guardiola back to Barcelona if his bid to return as president of the LaLiga club in 2021 is successful, Spanish media reported. 

Laporta was Barcelona president from 2003 to 2010 and was at the helm when Guardiola was promoted from the youth team to manager of the senior team in 2008. 

A shy village boy who could not bear to leave his parents' bed, Andrés Iniesta may have seemed an unlikely candidate to become one of the best footballers of all time, but anyone who saw him play rarely had serious doubts. 

Iniesta, who turns 36 today, weaved his magic for Barcelona for 16 years and was one of the architects of the club's greatest era, playing a defining role as they won 32 trophies including nine Spanish titles and four Champions League crowns.