Italian Serie A clubs got the green light from the country’s Government on Sunday to return to training grounds next week.
The news comes a week after Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte confirmed that May 18th will be the day that professional sports teams can resume training.
It seems likely however that once the schedule does resume that teams will be playing matches with no fans. England, Germany, and Spain are all likely to take a similar route for their schedules, while France has ended the Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 seasons respectively.
Serie A had been in a standstill since March 9th and still have 12 rounds of matches to play. In addition, both Juventus and Napoli still have Round of 16 second leg matches in the UEFA Champions League while Atalanta already punched their ticket to the quarterfinals.
Inter Milan and AS Roma were the lone Italian representatives left in the Europa League Round of 16. Both teams failed to play either of their two legs against Getafe and Sevilla respectively due to COVID-19’s impact on both Italy and Spain.
Four previously postponed matches from Round 25 in league play will also need to be made-up. As for the Coppa Italia tournament, four teams remain with the second leg semifinal ties still needing to be played.
Defending champion Juventus leads the Serie A table with 63 points from 26 games, one point ahead of second-place Lazio.
The race for the top four is also wide open with Inter Milan and Atalanta currently occupying the final two spots. Roma and Napoli are in the final European qualification spots while Lecce, SPAL and Brescia occupy the three relegation spots.
Curious to see if ALL teams resume. Brescia, for instance, is right in the heart of the worst of it…same with Atalanta. Teams on the end of the table with something to play for.
Interesting. ? I’ve accepted that it’s possible for the Serie A to resume this season. But, if it does and they follow proper health and safety protocols, it should be fine.