Owen Hargreaves on Bundesliga return: ‘The world will be watching… it could be a game-changer’

Bundesliga will be the first major league to return this weekend
REUTERS

Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has predicted a global audience of “billions” for the Bundesliga’s return this weekend — and English football chiefs will be watching as feverishly as any sports-starved supporter.

As the Premier League’s own attempts to restart inch forward, fraught with difficulties and dissenting voices, the German top flight will become the first major league in the world to resume during the coronavirus pandemic.

But for former England player Owen Hargreaves, who won four titles in a seven-year spell at Bayern, the Bundesliga’s return is far more significant than simply providing a roadmap for other European leagues.

“Even the NFL and the NBA will be watching,” Hargreaves told Standard Sport. “This isn’t just about football. This is a huge deal for everyone. If it goes well, it impacts not just sporting events all around the world, but you might see governments relaxing things. There’s a lot of pressure on the Bundesliga in taking these first steps. France shut down the league for the rest of the season. At the end of it, we’ll see who made the right call.”

The Bundesliga was suspended on March 13, the same day as England’s top flight, but progress has been far swifter in Germany, aided by a less severe outbreak of the deadly virus.

“A lot of the stuff that happens politically transfers onto the sporting side,” Hargreaves said. “Germany had a plan and everyone stuck together.”

Stadiums will be empty of supporters for the rest of the season, which could be completed over six weeks to the end of June.

Just 213 people will be allowed into each stadiums — 98 around the pitch and a further 115 in the stands — but fourth-placed Borussia Monchengladbach have bought cardboard cutouts of fans in the stands, priced at nearly £17 each.

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Every team has been in quarantine, moving only from a hotel to their training grounds in the week leading up to fixtures, and players will be regularly tested, with positives treated like an injury and resulting in a two-week spell in isolation. “It’s going to be weird for everyone,” added BT Sport pundit Hargreaves. “Fans play such a big part, it’s almost like playing in front of your mum and dad again. The players will have to be super-focused.”

While Hargreaves acknowledges that “every team is going to miss supporters”, it could be the top two who suffer most. Bayern, the visitors to Union Berlin on Sunday, are in a familiar position at the head of the table, four points clear of Borussia Dortmund, with nine matches remaining. “When you play at Bayern, you’ve probably never played in a stadium that’s not sold out,” Hargreaves said. “The Allianz Arena is always sold out and when you play away, everyone comes to watch Bayern, whether it’s love or hate.”

Owen Hargreaves on the men to watch as Germany’s top flight becomes the first major league to return during the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

DAYOT UPAMECANO (21) RB Leipzig, Centre-half

“He is an amazing young centre-back already, one of the best in the world, and he’s only 21.”
 

JADON SANCHO (20) Borussia Dortmund, Winger

“It’ll be hard for him to stay there a long time. He’s just playing at such a level that everyone is going to want him.”
 

ACHRAF HAKIMI (21), Borussia Dortmund, Right-back

“He’s an unbelievable player. The service he provides on the right, you know he will make chances.”
 

KAI HAVERTZ (20), Bayer Leverkusen, Midfielder

“He’s going to play at the very highest level. He’s in the Mesut Ozil mould but scores more goals and is physically bigger.”
 

ERLING HAARLAND (19), Borussia Dortmund, Striker

“He’s done amazingly. He is so good that he can get into any team in the world and improve it.”

Dortmund, meanwhile, are the only side unbeaten at home in front of their infamous “Yellow Wall”, and host Schalke in the Ruhr derby tomorrow.

If the top two slip-up, third-placed RB Leipzig would benefit. “A lot of people are not big fans [of Leipzig] in Germany because of the acquisition by Red Bull,” Hargreaves said. “They’re viewed as new money. But on the pitch they’ve done an incredible job.”

Hargreaves also believes English football fans will fall for the Bundesliga’s superstars of the future, including our own Jadon Sancho, who already has 14 goals and 15 assists in the league season. “You’re going to be drawn to some of the players,” he said. “You might not watch the team for long, but some of these players are going to play for the best teams [in the future], they’re that good.”

Sancho’s team-mate Erling Haaland, 19, scored nine goals in five starts and three substitute appearances after joining Dortmund in January and Hargreaves says it is inevitable the pair will leave the club soon.

“Dortmund have a model — they realised they aren’t going to sign the finished stars, like Bayern, but they’ll sign the super-talented kids that Bayern will potentially buy,” he said. “Those guys aren’t staying there for four or five years. They’re staying there for two, then they’re moved on.”

One potential advantage for the bigger sides with fuller squads was yesterday’s decision to allow five substitutes, while other changes include the banning of handshakes, no team photos and no mascots.

That includes Cologne’s beloved goat, Hennes IX, who will not be allowed into the RheinEnergieStadion for the foreseeable future. “Hopefully, in the near future we can get the fans, the mascots back,” said Hargreaves. “They’re all part of the team.

BT Sport is the home of the German Bundesliga. This weekend, watch every match live, from 2pm tomorrow, on TV, the app or with the BT Sport Monthly pass. For more info, go to: bt.com/sport/monthly-pass.

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