Will Leo Messi dance his latest tango in Barcelona • When will the sterile bubbles burst and fans return to the stands • What will happen to the Olympics, the Euros and the Copa America • and who will be the teams to celebrate a nostalgic summer championship • The important questions in the new world sport, which brings with it
Messi.
Last tango in Barcelona?
Photography:
AP
No Messi Where?
The year 2020 has left enough signs that even the year 2121 will not be particularly successful for Barcelona.
The team arrives in the new year bruised, tired, from sixth place in the table, with PSG waiting for them in the quarterfinals of the Champions League and when every time they take a step forward, two come behind them.
All of these raise the obvious question - is this really Messi's latest tango?
The answer - do not know.
The Argentine's contract expires in the summer, the whole world knows he wanted to leave Barcelona, there is the fax, the interview, the body language, the age - all the signs pointing to the end of the road, but the move has not yet been made.
After 16 years attached to Barça, Messi suddenly appears on the list of "players who could move a team this year", reports send him to Manchester City and PSG, it's right there, tangible.
On the other hand, there are presidential elections, there are those who claim that he will not leave, there is a Copa America in the summer and a World Cup next year, there is no time without the unknown.
In short, an enigma.
In the end, Messi's future seems to be like any other 2021 - one big puzzle.
Audience please, audience
There is no word that better describes the sucking side of sports in the Corona Age than a bubble.
NBA bubble, Champions League bubble, athletics bubble, bubble, bubble, bubble.
In order to continue to exist during the epidemic, sport had to converge within itself, shut down, disengage, move away, become sterile - a blessed thing on the one hand, but contrary to the essence on the other.
After all, the sport is meant to connect, to open, to fight, to be available to everyone equally - and the great hope is that in 2021 this situation will return to normal and the fans will return to the halls, stadiums and stadiums.
It is true that sometimes it is difficult with them - with the curses, the racism, the flares - but the last period has made it as clear as possible without them.
The fans are the soundtrack, the color, the element that amplifies the moment.
"It feels terrible to play without an audience," Leo Messi said, "I hope they come back soon because I like being whistled at," added Cristiano Ronaldo.
So forward to 2021, you heard them, burst the bubble already.
The return of the great events
The events that defined the year 2020 in sports most of all are the ones that did not take place at all.
The Olympics, the European Football Championship, the Copa America - all of these succumbed to the Corona virus and left the year without its highlights.
All have been postponed to 2021, and now they will define the new year by their very existence.
According to all the organizers, this time it will happen.
There is optimism, there is hope, there are dates.
The Tokyo 2021 Games are expected to open on July 23 and last until August 8, and according to Japanese Sports Minister Seiko Hashimoto, they will open "at any cost".
About 11,000 athletes will attend, 43 percent of whom have not yet met the criteria and will try to do so in the coming months, and Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said "an audience is also expected to attend."
A few weeks earlier, on June 11, Euro 2020 would be launched with a delay that would be more intriguing than ever.
The tournament will take place in ten different venues across the continent, from Baku in Azerbaijan to London, which today sounds as fictional as the existence of the Copa America as a series in those very days.
Today it is hard to imagine this happening, but 2021 is not another year - it is hope, faith, longing, a year whose slogan is "it will be all right, and it will be".
New year, new champions
Although the official celebrations have not yet taken place, the Liverpool championship was one of the highlights of 2020. In the decade that has just ended, which was marked by monopoly control and bipartisan monsters in the major leagues of Europe, a champion who put an end to 30 years in the form mentioned how lacking this element of dimension the time.
Of nostalgia, perspective, originality, innovation.
And here comes 2021 and the potential for new / old champions is huge.
Milan have been dreaming of a bachelor’s degree since 2011, just like Lille.
Atletico Madrid hope to recreate the 2014 championship, Lyon in the first championship picture since 2008, and even Berkusen gets a chance to strengthen its image as Nabarkozen.
In Scotland, Rangers are close to ending Celtic's sole rule that has stretched over a decade.
In Portugal, Sporting Lisbon have been flirting with their first championship since 2002, and in England there is an impression that the title is available to almost everyone - and especially to Liverpool.
And that's fine, because if she wins for the second time in a row she's going to do it for the first time in 39 years.
Do good
In the search for the needle in the haystack called 2020, we still find something good that has happened in world sports.
The fight against the corona virus that mixed with the fight for minority rights and fires in Australia, sent many athletes pondering the essence of life, and spawned heroes and leaders who are not dependent on the ball to create change.
From Marcus Rashford, who in an inspiring fight helped millions of hungry children in the UK and was named Athlete of the Year, through Nick Kirius who for a moment abandoned the bad boy image to raise money for fire victims in his homeland, to LeBron James, Naomi Osaka, Doc Rivers and Alex Morgan who voiced K. U.S. Rights.
This year has brought out a wonderful humane side from the athletes.
They donated money and time, were not afraid to express a position and opinion, swept away many.
Common sense dictates that 2021 may not be as catastrophic as its predecessor, but that does not stop it from being as heroic as it was last year.