There will be no smoke engulfing the doorway of the hotel Lebreros and no crowd of supporters, squashed in and shouting, waiting for the players to walk through them like gladiators into the ring. No fireworks as the bus edges its way through the flares to the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, one of the noisiest stadiums in Spain on its noisiest night. There will be no bus at all unless one of the managers decides to park one. There will not be thousands of fans at training or any at the match but at least there will be a match, football returning behind closed doors after 93 days in limbo.
“Playing without fans is as sad as dancing with your sister,” the Spain manager, Luis Enrique, said. Everyone knows that by now but there may be no fixture …