Fans warned as Bayern head to virus risk zone for Super Cup

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BERLIN, Sept 23, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Bayern Munich can lift yet more
silverware when they face Sevilla on Thursday for the UEFA Super Cup, but
travelling German fans have been warned to think again before flying to
Budapest and head coach Hansi Flick has questioned whether the match should
go ahead amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Champions League winners head to Hungary on a 22-match winning streak,
stretching back to February, which has seem them sweep up Champions League,
Bundesliga and German Cup titles.

Bayern opened the new Bundesliga season last Friday with an 8-0 hammering
of Schalke with Germany winger Leroy Sane scoring on his Munich debut and
declaring the “whole team showed how hungry we are”.

Their appetite for more silverware can be sated with two trophies up for
grabs in the coming week as they also face Dortmund for the German Super Cup
on September 30.

However Covid-19 has cast a shadow over Thursday’s showdown as Budapest
has been declared a risk zone by the German government due to a high
infection rate.

– ‘Think again’ –

Flick admits he “does not quite understand” why UEFA insist on the match
still taking place there, “but we are not the ones who make the decision”.

On Tuesday, Markus Soeder, state premier of Bavaria, announced tighter
rules, “which particularly affect the Super Cup” for travelling Bayern fans.

“Everyone should think again about whether it is sensible to travel,”
added Soeder.

Supporters must either be tested for Covid-19 before and after the trip to
Budapest or quarantine for two weeks.

“This is how we want to prevent there being a possible risk of infection,”
explained Soeder.

Only 500 Sevilla and 1300 Bayern fans are expected to watch the match at
Budapest’s Puskas Arena.

Both clubs have set up test centres in their respective cities in a bid to
reduce the risk of Thursday’s match becoming a ‘super spreader’ event.

On Monday, Soeder had already expressed doubt whether the game in Budapest
should go ahead.

– ‘Football’s Ischgl’ –

“We must be very, very careful that we don’t risk a new form of football-
Ischgl,” said the politician, referring to the now notorious Austrian ski
resort where thousands of holidaymakers were infected with the virus at the
beginning of the epidemic in Europe.

German daily Bild asked Tuesday “Will the Super Cup become the Super
Spreader Cup?””.

Bayern’s senior bosses, including chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, were
heavily criticised for ignoring social distancing and sitting in a close
group to watch Friday’s demolition of Schalke in Munich.

Rummenigge has promised to do better in Budapest, pledging “we all agree
that the picture (of the group) was not exemplary – we must and will change
this for the next game”.

Bayern’s star striker Robert Lewandowski, who netted a penalty and set up
two more goals on Friday, trained for just 12 minutes on Tuesday to allow him
to get over an ankle knock.

Sevilla come into the match short of match fitness having been given the
first two weekends of La Liga off after winning the Europa League.

Ibrahim Amadou, Roque Mesa, Aleix Vidal and Joris Gnagnon, who are all
expected to leave the club, did not train in Julen Lopetegui’s final session
on Tuesday.

Sevilla have re-signed Ivan Rakitic, who is likely to start against
Bayern, having been part of Barcelona’s 8-2 humiliation at the hands of the
Germans in August, albeit watching from the bench.

Sevilla have won the Europa League five times in the last 14 years but
have only once gone on to win the Super Cup, which was the first attempt in
2006.

This is the first time since 2013 – when they beat Borussia Dortmund in
that season’s Champions League final – that Bayern will contest the Super
Cup.