Sports Burst – Reality Bites in La Liga
Coronavirus impact spreads to Spain as La Liga declares that next two matchdays will be played behind closed doors to fall in line with other European nations
By Tim Stannard
Spain joins France and Italy in imposing restrictions on sporting events in attempt to prevent spread of coronavirus
Tuesday saw Spanish sport finally facing a tough new reality with La Liga announcing that the next two matchdays of the competition would be played behind closed doors as a preventative measure to stop the spread of the coronavirus in the country.
Indeed, all sporting events in Spain are undergoing the same restrictions. Due to the upcoming international break in the soccer calendar, these measures are liable to be in force until the beginning of April.
The action taken in Spain follows the decision made by French authorities on Monday to prevent fans from attending soccer games – or only up to a 1000 in a ground - until the middle of April and the harsher measures taken by Italy which sees all sporting activities being suspended until April 3rd, including Serie A games.
The first impact of the new decree from La Liga will be felt in today’s rearranged Eibar against Real Sociedad fixture where fans will not be able to attend. That match is live on beIN SPORTS CONNECT and ESPANOL at 3PM ET.
Valencia’s home Champions League game against Atalanta on Tuesday already had a supporter ban in place. Before the restrictions were put in place by Spanish authorities earlier today, Barcelona had already announced that next week’s Champions League game against Napoli would be played behind closed doors.
Although the games are still talking place and clubs will avoid the severe fixture congestion issues being suffered in Italy, there is set to be a significant impact to clubs in terms of finances with a loss of gate receipts. Real Madrid, for example, had back to back home games starting with Eibar on Friday followed by Valencia and will now have to deal with two shutouts at the Bernabeu.
The Sports Burst live show will bring you all the latest news live at 12PM ET on our beIN SPORTS USA Facebook page, Youtube channel and XTRA channel.
Valencia and Spurs face uphill battles in the Champions League
Valencia being forced to play Tuesday’s Champions League match against Atalanta without the admirable force of the Mestalla masses on their side is certainly going to make an already tough challenge even harder.
The Spanish side are 4-1 down to their Italian opponents in the Champions League Last-16 first leg encounter and are already dealing with iffy domestic form that sees just the one league win in five.
Jose Mourinho has decided to play good cop ahead of Tuesday's other Champions League game which sees Tottenham chasing a 1-0 deficit at RB Leipzig.
Despite having Steven Bergwjin being added to a significant injury list, the Portuguese pouter used positivity rather than complaining or throwing players under the bus ahead of a tie in Germany where Spurs are the underdogs to say the least. "(Tomorrow) is a time to give everything. We win or we leave everything we have on that pitch," declared Mourinho who managed not to sound overly sarcastic.
beIN SPORTS is offering up some top international women’s soccer today with the final round of matches from Le Tournoi in France. Brazil are taking on Canada at 1:50PM ET followed by France looking for three wins from three against the World Cup finalists of the Netherlands.
Real Madrid lose Courtois and Marcelo to injury as Copa Libertadores returns
The Champions League challenge for Real Madrid is already looking a little tougher ahead of next week’s visit to Manchester City. Madrid are already 2-1 down and are now set to be without Thibaut Courtois and Marcelo who have both been ruled out through injury. There is no word on when either will return.
Moving ahead a little and PSG are set to make a late decision on whether Kylian Mbappe will be ready for Wednesday’s Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund. The French forward missed Monday’s training session due to illness and his absence could be key as PSG look to turn around a 2-1 deficit against the German visitors.
Matchday two of the Copa Libertadores kicks off on beIN SPORTS on Tuesday with Brazil looking to build on a remarkable first round which produced six wins from the seven teams competing. Santos get the ball rolling – quite literally – at 6PM ET with a match-up against Delfin followed by Palmeiras hosting Club Guarani. beIN XTRA is also bringing two top clashes – no fees, no subscriptions, just top South American soccer on the house.