Sevilla and Real Betis is the game in Spain most defined by its fans and on Thursday it will be a first glimpse of La Liga without them as the season resumes behind closed doors after three months away due to the coronavirus.
Fireworks, banners,
plumes of smoke and crowds, delirious at the sight of a team bus, let alone a
goal, the Seville derby is a fixture renowned for its intensity and cherished
by its supporters.
There will be 110
games held in 39 days, with clubs playing every three days for five and a half
weeks, but none for the rest of the season will be as much of a stark reminder
of what is missing.
“We can’t wait to
return to competing,” said Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui on Wednesday.
“In circumstances
that three months ago were unimaginable but today it is the reality and we have
to adapt.
“The derby is going
to be played and we all know what it means. We have to respond.”
At the Ramon
Sanchez Pizjuan, where Sevilla had only lost two league games this season in
front of their fans, the stands will be empty, except for officials and
substitutes, who will be strecthed out across rows to maintain social
distancing.
For those watching
on television at home, the stands can be full, with virtual faces planted in
place of vacant seats and fake crowd noise, taken from the computer game FIFA,
ebbing and flowing according to the action.
La Liga’s hope is
to pitch the restart as a celebration.
“Volver es Ganar”,
has been the league’s slogan, “To Return is to Win”, and there is excitement
around football’s return, to go with the relief in recent weeks as the number
of deaths and infections have fallen.
‘Respect the rules’
Spain has recorded
more than 27,000 deaths overall and remains one of the worst-hit countries in
the world by coronavirus.
But there were 48
new infections on Monday, the lowest since lockdown was declared by the
government and down from as many as 10,000 towards the end of March.
Sport resuming adds
to the sense that the crisis is now under control but the differences in
Seville could also be a sobering demonstration of Spain’s “new normal”.
All players will
arrive wearing masks and gloves and have their temperatures checked before
entering the stadium.
In total, only
around 270 people will be allowed inside while outside, 600 police and security
personnel will remain in operation until hours after the final whistle.
Their remit will be
to ensure fans do not gather together in large groups, fill up small areas or
congregate on the same streets.
A perimeter fence
will be in place to keep them at a distance from the stadium.
“It is very
important that they pay attention to what is asked of them,” said Betis coach
Rubi. “It will be the only time in their life that this will happen. They have
to live it 100 per cent but while respecting the rules.”
The football will
be the same, albeit with five substitutes allowed instead of three and two
drinks breaks permitted to take into account the possibility of extreme heat
this summer.
Sevilla cannot
afford a slow restart either given they sit at the front of a tight queue of
clubs aiming to overtake them and finish in the top four.
One point behind
are both Real Sociedad and Getafe. Atletico Madrid are two points back in
sixth.
Betis have not
entirely given up on European qualification themselves although it will take a
formidable run to close a nine-point gap on seventh-placed Valencia, who host
Levante on Friday.
“We are not going
to make any excuses about the unusual circumstances, the lack of fans or the
small amount that we have trained,” said Rubi. “This is the situation. We have
to face it.”