Daily Schmankerl: Sancho to Bayern rather than EPL, FIFA20 Bundesliga tournament, Leupolz excited about Chelsea, Thiago gives back, and more

Matthäus thinks Sancho could go to Bayern Munich (Daily Star)

“Could” is the operative word here: in a recent interview, Bayern legend and soccer pundit Lothar Matthäus argued that BVB star Jadon Sancho would be ideal at Bayern Munich in light of his outstanding abilities on both the left and right wing. Of course, that doesn’t mean it will happen. Matthäus said,

He’ll probably go back to England. But what does he want at Chelsea or United? They may not even be playing in the Champions League next year. I could very well imagine Sancho at Bayern, also because he can play on both wings.

We can all get behind that idea, even if there’s virtually no chance in hell that Borussia Dortmund would let Sancho leave for Bayern, no matter what inflated fee the Bavarians were willing to pay.

DFL announces “Bundesliga Home Challenge”

As we all sit around bored out of our minds, the DFL is taking matters into its own hands: none of the teams can play on the pitch, but they can play in the virtual world. This weekend, the DFL will hold a FIFA20 tournament featuring 26 teams from the Bundesliga and 2.Bundesliga. Each club can field a team of one player and one club employee who will compete from home.

We’ll keep an eye out for how it will be broadcast.

Melanie Leupolz explains her decision to leave for Chelsea (TZ)

Melanie Leupolz gave an interview to TZ just after her decision to leave Bayern Munich for Chelsea was announced. She described her excitement to move on to the next step in her career: “I’m obviously very happy. It’s a decision that I thought very carefully about.”

Chelsea apparently rolled out the red carpet for her:

The club put on quite a show — my agent and I were met by a real committee. FC Chelsea gathered many cameras and press workers there. I met 20 people for sure. You can see from that how professional the club is set up.

Leupolz said she was impressed by her conversations with Chelsea’s front office, including sporting director Marina Granovskaia.

Looking back on her time at Bayern, Leupolz said, “six years at one club is a very long time. I personally have said since the beginning of my career that I’d like to play overseas some day. For me, now is the right time to take this step.”

Atalanta-Valencia match “game zero” of coronavirus outbreak in Italy (SI)

A horrifying sequel to Atalanta’s Champions League fairy tale has stricken the Italian city of Bergamo: experts have linked Atalanta’s match against Valencia in Milan to the devastating spread of the coronavirus in Bergamo, Italy.

Experts are pointing to the Feb. 19 game as one of the biggest reasons why Bergamo has become one of the epicenters of the coronavirus pandemic — a “biological bomb” was the way one respiratory specialist put it — and why 35% of Valencia’s team became infected.

The game took place just two days before the first confirmed case of community transmitted coronavirus in Italy. Some 40,000 Bergamo supporters attended the match, as well as 2,500 Valencia away fans. The crowd apparently helped the virus spread like wildfire. The first cases to strike Bergamo emerged less than a week later. Almost 7,000 people have since become infected in Bergamo, which has struggled to treat the sick and bury the dead.

It was no overreaction to suspend the season. In hindsight, that decision indeed should have been taken sooner.

Alcantara Family Foundation supports Hospital Clínic de Barcelona (Bild)

Bild has changed its tune about Thiago Alcantara. After responding to Thiago’s online appeal to the DFL to suspend the season by calling on him to prove his commitment by making a donation, Bild now is singing Thiago’s praises after the midfielder announced on Catalan radio that his family’s foundation is supporting a campaign of the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona.

Thiago said on RAC1:

We have been working with the clinic for a week. We looked for the best help that we could offer and decided to support the clinic. We are trying to work to prevent future pandemics and to improve conditions for the patients.

The Alcantara Family Foundation is also collaborating with UNICEF to start a YouTube channel dedicated to helping families and educating children:

There are seven million children under 15 at home [in Spain] who do not understand the gravity of the situation. We wanted to help these families with ideas and serve as a mouthpiece for these children so they can express themselves. We want to create an educational system with other children so they can share experiences. We will set up a YouTube channel with UNICEF, and from this channel the kids will send us the content they want.

We hope it proves to be a massive success!

Jerome Boateng says thanks