The wait was long, even interminable, for players and supporters. The return to business is revealed to be precarious and crushed by the growing shadow of a mad hope radiating from Lisbon. Sunday evening (9 p.m.), the spotlight will be on the Portuguese capital where Paris Saint-Germain, opposed to Bayern Munich, could offer France its second Champions League after that of OM in 1993.
»READ ALSO - The 2020-21 calendar of Ligue 1
The ubiquitous Covid-19
The gift would be sublime and welcome for a standing knockout discipline, struck by one of the greatest crises in its history. And from which it has not yet emerged, far from it. Five months after having lowered the curtain of a 2019-2020 season which will never have resumed, unlike its English, Spanish, German and Italian neighbors, Ligue 1 is finally back. The telescoping with the epilogue of the European Cup is not necessarily a disadvantage. He prevents her from seeing her feverishness take all the light. Because despite the protocol put in place by the Professional Football League and sent to the clubs (a 57-page document lists all the measures to be respected), the Covid-19 still plays with the nerves of French football.
Scheduled to raise the curtain of the new season this Friday, the Marseille-Saint-Étienne shock is postponed to September 17 due to four positive cases within the Marseille workforce. The start of a cluster and new problems for the LFP, also concerned about the situation in Nîmes where four positive cases were also detected. The match against Brest, Sunday in the Gard, is threatened. And the ball of postponements may be just beginning. Like the replacement poster to launch the season, opposing two flagships to the lost luster (Bordeaux-Nantes, 7 p.m. this Friday on Téléfoot), the recovery promises to be dull, between uncertainties and accounts in the red (the health crisis generated € 291 million in losses for clubs according to the DNCG, Editor's note).
Mediapro as a savior
The arrival of Mediapro as a broadcaster was to propel the French elite into a new era to compete with the best European leagues. It proves first of all providential to save it from bankruptcy after the crisis with its 1.153 billion euros spent each year to broadcast it until 2024. A record in the history of French football. Still far from being accessible to all French people - broadcasting agreements with operators are falling into a trickle - Téléfoot, the channel of the Sino-Spanish audiovisual group, could quickly find its account. With only 5,000 people authorized in the stadiums (excluding exemptions) and the threat of being in camera in the event of the second wave of Covid-19, supporters could be tempted to put their hands in their pockets. This may be the only way to satisfy their passion.
The program of the 1st day:
Friday August 21 7:00 p.m.
Bordeaux - Nantes
Saturday 22 August 5:00 p.m.
Dijon - Angers
9:00 p.m.
Lille - Rennes
Sunday 23 August 13h00
Monaco - Reims
3:00 p.m.
Nîmes - Brest
Lorient - Strasbourg
5:00 p.m.
Nice - Lens
Tuesday 1 September 5 9:00 p.m.
Montpellier - Lyon
Wednesday September 1 6 9:00 p.m.
Paris SG - Metz
Thursday September 1 7 9 p.m.
Marseille - Saint-Etienne
Read also
- The 2020-21 calendar of Ligue 1