Major European football returned this weekend but the German Bundesliga was a long way from its usual self as play resumed amid the coronavirus pandemic.
With fixtures staged in empty stadiums and with social distancing regulations applied to the extent they could be, the rest of Europe got a glimpse of what could be on the way for their own leagues in the coming weeks and months.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look at five things we learned from the weekend
Every echo reverberates
Quality still shines through
Social distancing maintained
Players still face scrutiny
VAR controversy rumbles on
Bitter……….. Der Videoassistent hat da einen Fingernagel im Abseits gesehen……
— SC Freiburg (@scfreiburg) May 16, 2020
Whatever else has changed, there is still a place for VAR to cause controversy as it made major interventions in two of Saturday’s closely-fought games. Augsburg lost 2-1 at home to Wolfsburg, but only after Felix Uduokhai thought he had put the hosts 2-1 up before seeing the goal chalked off, but the bigger controversy came as Freiburg were denied an upset 2-1 win away to RB Leipzig, with Robin Koch’s stoppage-time goal ruled marginally offside.
