The Chinese Super League (CSL) has delivered an impressive example setting up convincing concepts for a secure league competition with fans in times of the COVID-19 pandemic, said the head of Bundesliga International China Office Patrick Stueber.
German football can learn from Chinese league's COVID-19 prevention experience, Bundesliga official
"The German Bundesliga can learn from CSL regarding their achievements to run games and allow the return of fans," Stueber told Xinhua in a round-table interview including club representatives from Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04.
Both clubs face an eagerly awaited derby this Saturday, with 300 fans allowed to enter the stadium.
Stueber pointed out that the German national league has been in close contact with Chinese football organizations back in May about the German re-start concept's details to finish the national league in games behind closed doors.
"The CSL praised the close partnership back in May. Looking at their current achievements, we know great efforts must have been made to secure people's safety," Stueber commented.
The CSL has turned the home-and-away games into tournaments organized by two cities' division. More than 23,000 coronavirus tests had been executed for all the participants in the first stage and no one has been infected by now.
German football can learn from Chinese league's COVID-19 prevention experience, Bundesliga official
As the first top league to restart last season, Bundesliga had set a world model with its hygiene concept which inspired many sports organizers, but recently more cases came out in clubs like Bayern, Dortmund, Hertha, Hoffenheim and Werder Bremen as the second wave hit Germany seriously.
Stueber watched the Shanghai Derby on Friday in Suzhou city and called it overwhelmingly interesting to see how the CSL has set up this concept. "Seeing CSL operated well, we might not be able to copy it one-to-one, considering the differences between both countries. I would say this is a very good current example what Bundesliga can learn from the Chinese Football Association and CSL."
The official talked about German football's intense efforts to find Chinse talents to join the German league. The German league is said to have nearly 70 million avid fans in China, with almost 200 million talking about having a high interest in the Bundesliga.
"A Chinese talent in the Bundesliga would certainly be a game-changer regarding interest rates," Stueber said. He added that it might take some time as "this is a long-term project." He mentioned Germany long way as a traditional football country setting up talent academies in 2002 and 12 years later winning the World Cup.
German football can learn from Chinese league's COVID-19 prevention experience, Bundesliga official
He called China the area the Bundesliga is investing more effort than anywhere else. The Bundesliga intends to become the most popular league in China.
Conrad Ziesch, the head of Schalke's China office, and Benjamin Wahl, the head of BVB's China office, mentioned both sides' efforts to support football development in China. "We want to contribute our share to help China to run the 2030 World Cup or at least a participation," Ziesch said.
China needs to develop its individual pattern using its sportive expertise. "We need to create a middle course combining both the German experience and China's emerging football and expertise of other sports," Wahl said.
Both clubs stand for successful talent development over the recent decades.
Stueber said Saturday's Revierderby stands for the passion and excitement the Bundesliga can deliver to fans worldwide. "Both sides are only 30 kilometers apart and are located in a region of coal mining and steel production. The atmosphere has always been terrific," Stueber said.
German football can learn from Chinese league's COVID-19 prevention experience, Bundesliga official
This time fans mostly have to stick to digital formats and TV broadcastings. But that in no way diminishes the enthusiasm.
"Games like that increase the Bundesliga's international reputation," Stueber added.
Many fans regard the derby outcome far more important than to win the national title.
LEVERKUSEN, Germany (AP) — Jonathan Tah is already a German champion with Bayer Leverkusen. He's hungry for more titles.
Tah could yet complete a treble this season in the Europa League — where Leverkusen plays Roma in the semifinals next week — and in the German Cup. Then there's the European Championship with Germany, for which Tah has become a regular starter in central defense alongside Real Madrid's Antonio Rüdiger.
Leverkusen's players and coach Xabi Alonso — who Tah showered with beer during their title celebrations — aren't satisfied just with bringing the long-awaited first league title to a club once derided as “Neverkusen" for its near misses.
“This trophy gave us so much positive energy. To have that feeling to win a trophy, the hunger gets even bigger and that’s why we keep our level high," Tah tells The Associated Press. “One trophy is nice but there’s still more to achieve, so that’s why we keep pushing ourselves.”
Including the home game with Stuttgart on Saturday, Leverkusen is four games away from being the first German team to go unbeaten all season in the Bundesliga.
Tah and the rest of the defense have conceded in 30 league games just 20 goals — 17 fewer than Bayern Munich — and going unbeaten would be their crowning achievement.
“That means something for us because that’s never happened before,” Tah said. “We are racing ourselves because we are already Bundesliga champions. But that’s our own challenge now that we are playing for, and that’s why we want to keep that momentum and keep winning.”
Tah has been with Leverkusen since 2015 and is the club's second longest serving player. In that time, “the expectations of the club evolved” and Alonso has forged a competitive mindset, even in training, and rock-solid team spirit, Tah said.
“He’s expecting to win every game, no matter against who we play. He’s never scared. He always wants to win games and that’s his mindset,” Tah said of Alonso. Having a coach who won the World Cup and Champions League as a player opens up new possibilities in training. Clips from Alonso's sessions with Leverkusen have often gone viral as the coach casually plays pinpoint long passes or shows off his skills.
“He can show you what he wants to see from you and actually sometimes it’s really impressive how good his level still is,” Tah said. “I don’t want to take away (from) his tactical understanding and explaining the team on the (tactics) board and stuff like that, because he’s good at that as well, but of course he’s Xabi Alonso. He was a big player. He won everything. And if he explains something to you and shows it to you, it is different than a coach who has never played for a club before.”
Leverkusen's historic season will end with the German Cup final against Kaiserslautern on May 25 in Berlin. That comes three days after a potential Europa League final against Atalanta or Marseille in Dublin.
Tah's unlikely to get much rest after that. His performances with Leverkusen have helped to kick-start what had been a stop-start career with Germany. He's played every minute of Germany's last seven games, including every game since Julian Nagelsmann was appointed coach.
Tah believes Leverkusen's winning mindset could help Germany, too.
“That’s my part,” he said, "to bring that energy and that mindset that we have here in Leverkusen right now to the national team and try to do my best to support the team, so that we can be successful."
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
FILE - Germany's Jonathan Tah, center, goes for a header with France's Jean-Clair Todibo, left, and Adrien Rabiot during the international friendly soccer match between Germany and France in Dortmund, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023. Tah won the Bundesliga title already, and has also the chance to win the German Cup and the Europa League this season with Leverkusen. Tah is also defender for Germany's national team. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
FILE - Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz, right, celebrates with teammates Jonathan Tah, up, Victor Boniface, left, and Granit Xhaka, centre, after scoring a goal that was seconds later disallowed by a VAR decision during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, on Dec. 3, 2023. Excitement was building in Leverkusen, Germany on Sunday ahead of local team Bayer Leverkusen’s expected Bundesliga title win after an outstanding season so far. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
Leverkusen's Jonathan Tah, left, and Dortmund's Niclas Fuellkrug challenge for the ball during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen in Dortmund, Germany, Sunday, April 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
FILE - Leverkusen's Jonathan Tah, left, and Dortmund's Niclas Fuellkrug, right, go for a header during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen in Dortmund, Germany, Sunday, April 21, 2024. Tah won the Bundesliga title already, and has also the chance to win the German Cup and the Europa League this season with Leverkusen. Tah is also defender for Germany's national team. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Bayer Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah talks to The Associated Press during an interview at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. Tah won the Bundesliga title already, and has also the chance to win the German Cup and the Europa League this season with Leverkusen. Tah is also defender for Germany's national team. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Bayer Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah talks to The Associated Press during an interview at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. Tah won the Bundesliga title already, and has also the chance to win the German Cup and the Europa League this season with Leverkusen. Tah is also defender for Germany's national team. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Bayer Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah talks to The Associated Press during an interview at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. Tah won the Bundesliga title already, and has also the chance to win the German Cup and the Europa League this season with Leverkusen. Tah is also defender for Germany's national team. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Bayer Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah talks to The Associated Press during an interview at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. Tah won the Bundesliga title already, and has also the chance to win the German Cup and the Europa League this season with Leverkusen. Tah is also defender for Germany's national team. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Bayer Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah talks to The Associated Press during an interview at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. Tah won the Bundesliga title already, and has also the chance to win the German Cup and the Europa League this season with Leverkusen. Tah is also defender for Germany's national team. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Bayer Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah talks to The Associated Press during an interview at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. Tah won the Bundesliga title already, and has also the chance to win the German Cup and the Europa League this season with Leverkusen. Tah is also defender for Germany's national team. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
FILE - Leverkusen's Jonathan Tah, right, sprays beer on head coach Xabi Alonso after Bayer Leverkusen won the German Bundesliga title beating Werder Bremen in Leverkusen, Germany, Sunday, April 14, 2024. After the Bundesliga title, Tah has also the chance to win the German Cup and the Europa League this season with Leverkusen. He is also defender for Germany's national team. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Bayer Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah talks to The Associated Press during an interview at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. Tah won the Bundesliga title already, and has also the chance to win the German Cup and the Europa League this season with Leverkusen. Tah is also defender for Germany's national team. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
