Anxiety for the ball to roll within a playing field is starting to end, and after more than four months of waiting, Paraguayan football will return on Friday with all the necessary precautions and a strict protocol.
The Covid-19 pandemic came to stay, and football, like everything else in life, has changed. There will be no audience in the stadiums, players will undergo weekly virus tests, and everything will be done with the corresponding "social distancing".
The balls will be disinfected before each game, and even the most audacious have considered installing giant screens where fans will be present virtually, in a reality that surpasses any movie.
If no inconvenience arises during the week, on Friday at 16:00, General Diaz will host San Lorenzo in Luque; the Eagles are in the relegation zone to the Intermedia division, while the Saints are very close to falling into that position. The opening of the 9th matchday of a tournament has Libertad as a solid leader, and they will face Cerro Porteno in the most attractive match of the weekend on Sunday at 16:00 in La Nueva Olla.
Olimpia is in second place, four points behind Libertad, and they will visit Sportivo Luqueno on Friday at 18:30 in the Feliciano Caceres stadium, a venue that was closed to the public but due to the absence of fans because of the pandemic, the Chanchon team will play in their own city again.
This Apertura tournament will remain in its original format, with two rounds of home-and-away matches, while the Clausura tournament will consist of a single round and the return of the playoffs. The pandemic has also led to modifications in the average score, with two teams being relegated to the Intermedia division, and the inclusion of the regular phase of the Clausura 2020 tournament.