Resume? Not resume? When will it resume? The speech of the President of the Republic, Monday evening, did not allow to fully lift the veil on a possible resumption of the French Football Championship. Last match of the 2019-2020 fiscal year to have taken place Lille - Lyon (1-0) of March 8 does not yet serve as the end credits of this season interrupted at the dawn of the 29th day for cause of coronavirus. Quite the contrary.
In a document released by L'Équipe and that we have obtained, the Professional Football League has even established two calendars, depending on the next year's resumption date set for August 23. With the date of confinement extended until May 11, the first became very uncertain, unlike the second, a source of hope. Knowing that, whatever happens, the matches would take place behind closed doors until mid-July… at least.
Probably too short for June 3
The first scenario envisaged has taken a hold in the wing since the president announced “the progressive deconfinement on May 11. The recommendations of the medical sector explain that after stopping for more than a month, at least four weeks of re-athletics are necessary for a return to competition. This therefore requires being able to return to training on ... May 3. The resumption at the beginning of June in fact implies a (re) start on the wheel caps with six days in June (3, 6, 10, 13, 20 and 28) and four in July (4, 12, 18 and 25) . A scenario that allows PSG to catch up on its late Ligue 1 match in Strasbourg on June 17, to compete in the League Cup final against Lyon on 27, then the Coupe de France final in front of Saint-Etienne on July 11.
June 17 more and more plausible
Now more credible than the first, the second option considered by the League is also the most condensed in time since it would only extend over six weeks instead of eight. To end the Ligue 1 season, it is on an average rhythm of a match every three days in June (ls 17, 20, 24 and 28) and in July (the 4, 8, 12, 15, 18 and 25) that the clubs will have to fuel. In this context, the League Cup final would still find its place on June 27, that of the Coupe de France always on July 11 and Paris would play its late match in Strasbourg on July 22.
What about the Champions League?
When the competition stopped, only Atalanta Bergamo, Leipzig, Atlético de Madrid and PSG had their tickets for the quarter-finals in their pockets. Lyon, Juve, Manchester City, Real, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Barcelona and Naples still had their 1/8 round return to play.
In the two recovery calendars it has established, the League has released dates for European competitions to also come to an end. In the event of a resumption of Ligue 1 on June 3, the 1/8 of the Champions League could then end in mid-June (16-17), the quarters will be disputed on the first two Tuesdays and Wednesday in July (30/6, 1/7 and 7-8 / 7), the halves follow on the next two (14-15 and 21-22) and the final give its verdict on August 8. In the event of a resumption on June 17, the end of the competition would no longer be spread over 8 weeks but over 6.5. The 1/8 would end on an evening (July 22), the quarters would end in July (28-29) and open in August (4-5), the halves would curl around the weekend of August 15 (11-12 and 18-19) and the champion would be crowned him at the end of the month (29).
Two options which, if they include all matches, have no official character at the moment. UEFA, which meets its executive committee on 23 April, could indeed take the decision to end the competition over a period reduced to a few weeks and without round-trip matches.
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