Atletico Madrid

LaLiga will use virtual images of stands in television broadcasts with added “fan audio,” produced by the makers of the FIFA video game, when it returns to action on Thursday.

Domestic broadcasters in Spain will offer their viewers the choice of a “natural” broadcast of games played behind closed doors with no fans but the international audience will receive only the enhanced broadcasts with added audio and graphics.

Atlético Madrid's long-serving assistant coach Germán "Mono" Burgos has announced he is leaving the club at the end of this campaign after over eight years in order to become a head coach.

"At the end of this season I will start my journey as a first team coach. With more than 10 years experience in LaLiga I think I am perfectly capable of guiding a team's destiny," Burgos said in a video on Atlético's website on Wednesday.

With Bayern Munich taking what’s almost certainly an unassailable lead at the top of the Bundesliga, the La Liga return date of June 11 can’t come soon enough for those thirsting for a bit of sporting drama in their lives. With 11 matches still to go for every side in Spain’s top division, the La Liga return schedule highlights the twists and turns we have lying ahead.

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.

Five players in Spain's top two divisions have tested positive for COVID-19 since clubs began testing players and staff members last week, organizing body LaLiga said in a statement on Sunday. 

LaLiga said the players would remain at their homes where they would continue individual training before being tested again "in the next few days" to determine whether they can return to their club's training ground. 

The Spanish soccer season, halted like most major sporting competitions due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, is unlikely to return until the summer, the country's health minister Salvador Illa said on Sunday. 

Spectators are unlikely to be able to return to football stadiums until next year at the earliest due to the continued threat of the novel coronavirus, according to Jaume Roures, the head of Spanish media company Mediapro which broadcasts LaLiga. 

Roures, whose company also manages the international broadcasting rights for the Spanish top flight and broadcasts the Champions League, also predicts the end of colossal transfer fees for players due to the pandemic. 

The novel coronavirus has crippled the global economy and devastated lives and families but Atlético Madrid and Spain midfielder Saúl Ñíguez believes there is a way out if people show solidarity with each other. 

With football on hold during the health crisis, Saúl, 25, has launched Saldremos Juntos (“We'll get through this together”), a campaign to boost Spain's freelancers and small businesses whose livelihoods have been bludgeoned by the pause in activity.