It’s now been close to two months since the Serie A season was put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. But the league has recently received a major boost regarding the potential return of play.
Serie A players can resume training individually starting May 4 while team training can take place on May 18, Italy’s prime minister Giuseppe Conte announced recently.
The hope is that Serie A can resume playing games by the end of the month or early June and conclude by August.
Italy has been one of the hardest-hit countries in the world by the COVID-19 outbreak. There have been over 26,000 coronavirus-related deaths, the highest amount in all of Europe.
But after seeing a steady decline in cases over the past few weeks, the country is now planning to ease its lockdown restrictions by the start of May.
The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has already published its medical protocol to ensure the safety of players and staff. That protocol includes constant testing and enforcing strict health guidelines for teams.
Sports minister won’t guarantee Serie A restart
However, Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora doesn’t want to raise the expectations of Italian fans just yet. Spadafora made it clear that despite the fact that dates have been set for players and teams to resume practice, it does not necessarily mean Serie A is sure to start back up again.
Spadafora made it clear that the FIGC’s medical protocol will need to be improved and agreed upon before the league resumes.
“We’ll resume training for team sports from May 18, but only if the conditions of safety and security can be confirmed over the next few weeks,” Spadafora told last Sunday in an interview with Italian television.
“The FIGC presented a protocol last night and the scientific committee considered it insufficient, so it needs adjustments”, he added.
While the official date to restart the season is yet to be determined, it appears certain that the season will continue at some point and won’t be completely cancelled.
All 20 Serie A teams voted unanimously last week that they would try and finish the 2019-20 season, even if it extends until the autumn season.
Although, there have been reports that seven clubs — Brescia, Torino, Sampdoria, Udinese, SPAL, Genoa and Cagliari — have expressed reservations about resuming play due to the “incalculable risk” involved amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Whether or not those clubs had a change of heart voluntarily or forcibly remains to be seen.
Exciting Serie A title race set to resume
The fact that the season will continue should be welcome news to SBOBET Serie A fans, who will be able to enjoy one of the more competitive title races in recent years.
Juventus went into the halt in play on top of the table, but the reigning champions were just one point behind surprise package Lazio.
The Serie A 2020 betting odds still have the Bianconeri as the title favourites, but the Biancocelesti have shown that they are capable of pushing the Old Lady all the way.
Lazio captain Ciro Immobile has had a fantastic season, leading the goalscoring charts with 27 goals. Meanwhile, team-mate Luis Alberto has also been responsible for several Serie A 2020 highlights. He leads the league with 12 assists.
Lower down in the table, Inter and Atalanta currently occupy the third and fourth Champions League spots.
Inter looked to be Juve’s strongest title rivals after having a brilliant start under Antonio Conte. But they’ve since gone off the boil, winning just four of their last 11 league matches before the break in play. That includes a comprehensive 2-0 defeat at Juventus in the Derby d’Italia.
It now seems highly unlikely that they can claw back their nine-point deficit on Juve with just 13 matches left on the season.
Atalanta are in fourth, six points behind Inter. Once the season does restart, though, Atalanta will likely be focused more on the Champions League, where they have reached the quarter-final stage, than the league.
Fifth-placed Roma are three points behind Atalanta having played one more game. But they remain in contention for a possible playoff for a Champions League place should Serie A decide to hold one.
Napoli are a further six points adrift of Roma and would at least be in good position to be part of a Europa League playoff.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
