Bundesliga: 13,000 supporters ... ghosts for a championship match

Be inventive despite the crisis. Almost 13,000 effigies of cardboard supporters are already installed in the stands of the Mönchengladbach stadium, which will host a closed-door match of Bundesliga match 27 against Leverkusen on Saturday (3.30 p.m.). From the start of the coronavirus crisis in March, the “Fanprojekt Mönchengladbach” group launched an idea that flourished: allow each supporter to print, for 19 euros, a full-size image of himself on cardboard. These figurines are placed in the stadium stands, and holders of a year-long card even have the privilege of seeing their double cardboard sit exactly in their usual place.

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" We install almost 13,000 effigies, but almost 20,000 are already ordered, " said the president of the fan club Thomas Ludwig to the sports agency SID, a subsidiary of AFP. " It is a beautiful operation, which creates an atmosphere in the stadium ", appreciated the sports director of Borussia Max Eberl, "at the same time it is a reminder, that football without supporters is not the same". “ It's fantastic. You really feel like you're not alone when you train in the stadium, ”adds Marco Rose, the team's coach. Winner 3-1 in Frankfurt last Saturday for the resumption match after more than two months of interruption due to the coronavirus, the Rhenish club is third with 52 pts, six points behind the leader Munich. It hosts the Bayer Leverkusen, fifth with 50 pts, on Saturday.

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Football is gradually picking up in Europe

So the Bundesliga resumed last weekend in Germany, the other European championships are also preparing to resume their course. In Portugal, the season should start again on June 4, while Italian Serie A aims to resume on June 13. With respect to Spain and England, players have been allowed to train in small groups this week. 

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