THE Premier League wants the Bundesliga to set an example but there is already something the English game can learn NOT to do – blast out music to celebrate a goal.
Empty stadiums and a lack of atmosphere are a sign of the times now we are back in the business of top-flight football in the Covid-19 era.
Freiburg’s defender Manuel Gulde celebrates scoring the opener against RB Leipzig in a socially distanced fashion with team-mate Dominique HeintzCredit: Getty – Pool
RB Leipzig’s Tyler Adams shields the ball from Freiburg’s Christian GunterCredit: Reuters
Timo Werner failed to find the net on his return to the field amid plenty of transfer speculationCredit: Reuters
But rarely can the soul king James Brown have been used in such a pointless way as when one of his classics greeted RB Leipzig’s equalising goal.
Yussuf Poulsen responded to his header levelling the scores with 13 minutes left by grabbing the ball and making a quick dash back to centre circle because he was so desperate to resume play looking for a winner.
Other than brief shouts of celebration and a ripple of applause there was nothing else to mark the goal – until the bright spark on the PA system got involved.
Quite how this employee is regarded as key to getting a match played is open to question, but whoever it was scrambled to find the buttons and all of a sudden “I Feel Good” was being piped around the empty stadium.
No-one was feeling particularly good though as Leipzig fluffed their lines with a draw that is likely to put pay to their hopes of winning the Bundesliga title.
Five points off top-spot at the start of play, Julian Nagelsmann’s bright young side knew they needed a win to heap pressure on leaders Bayern Munich and second place Borussia Dortmund.
And in fairness to them they showed little sign of being off the pace after a two month lay-off as they set about Freiburg right from the off.
But they were unable to take a string of half-chances and Freiburg made them pay on 34 minutes when defender Manuel Gulde got the faintest of touches to guide a corner into the far corner to give the visitors a shock lead.
Celebrations were limited to a series of elbow taps as players resisted the temptation to hug each other in an attempt to follow the new medical protocols to minimise infection risk.
No music greeted that goal – and the game looked to be going beyond Leipzig as they wasted a whole host of chances after the break.
Ademola Lookman fired wide from six yards, Poulsen blazed high and wide and even Timo Werner was unable to concert another chance.
But on 77 minutes Poulsen finally nodded home the equaliser, and Nagelsmann’s men went searching for a winner.
Instead it was Freiburg who found the net in stoppage time when Robin Koch turned in from close range three minutes into added time – only for VAR to spot a tight offside and rule the goal out.
Maybe nothing changes after all.
Bundesliga club Borussia Monchengladbach are finding a novel way of filling their stadium
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
