According to the Associated Press on Saturday, La Liga is planning to return at the end of May and play professional soccer games in empty stadiums. La Liga is the premier soccer division in Spain.
It is not known exactly how long La Liga will play in empty stadiums. According to Madrid Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida there will be no sporting events with spectators in Spain for the rest of the spring, summer, and possibly fall.
La Liga suspended its season indefinitely on March 12 due to coronavirus. At the time FC Barcelona led La Liga in the standings with a record of 18 wins, five losses and four draws for 58 points. They had a two point lead on Real Madrid.
All teams in the La Liga were to play 38 games this season. So far all teams have played only 27 games. Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona currently leads La Liga with 19 goals.
Four teams qualify from La Liga to the European Champions League on annual basis. The Spanish Soccer Federation has stated if the soccer season does not continue because of another possible coronavirus outbreak in Spain, then the current top four teams in La Liga (FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Sevilla and Real Sociedad) will qualify. The 2020 UEFA Champions League has been suspended indefinitely.
Spain currently has the second most cases of coronavirus in the world. There are 195, 944 cases. The United States has the most cases at 754, 263. In terms of fatalities, Spain has the third most in the world with 20, 453. They are behind the United States (39, 856 cases) and Italy (23, 660 cases).
What happens in Spain could be watched closely by commissioners in North America. The National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League are considering completing their seasons in the summer, while Major League Baseball is looking at various different options of how to begin their season. Meanwhile Major League Soccer, the top professional soccer league in North America, has suspended all games in their season through to June 8.
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