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We enjoyed a profitable return to Bundesliga action last weekend, and I don’t know about you, but I had a spectacular time sitting on the couch for 12 hours watching the first major European league to make a triumphant return.

I plan on doing that all over again this weekend, so we might as well win some more money while we’re at it.

Borussia Dortmund (-143) at Wolfsburg (+350), Draw (+300)

Betting under any number in a Dortmund match since Erling Haaland came aboard has been a surefire way to gutter your bankroll – the club has scored 31 goals in his nine Bundesliga appearances. However, 22 of those came in Haaland’s first five matches, and only nine have been scored in the four games since, which includes last weekend’s four-goal outburst against Schalke.

Wolfsburg represent a tougher test, as Dortmund will be on the road against one of the best defenses in the top flight, which has conceded just 13 times in 13 home matches this term. The hosts will make life difficult for the high-flying Dortmund attack, which should be in for a bit of a letdown following that massive derby win.

Don’t expect more than a goal – maybe two – from Dortmund, while Wolfsburg are unlikely to contribute much to the total. They’ve scored just 16 times in 13 home games, and they’ve failed to find the back of the net in each of their last six matches against BVB, last scoring against them in a 5-1 loss in September 2016. Dortmund have kept four clean sheets in their last five matches and are a good bet to record another here.

Pick: Under 3 (-113)

Hoffenheim (+110) at Paderborn (+210), Draw (+280)

Both of these sides were held goalless in the first weekend back and they’ll be looking to get off the mark on Saturday, but another low-scoring affair feels likely. Paderborn have scored just 17 goals in their 13 home matches this season, while Hoffenheim are one of the lowest-scoring clubs away from home, recording just 16 goals and conceding only 12 in their 12 road fixtures.

Paderborn have conceded nine goals in seven home matches against clubs outside the top eight while scoring eight. They will be hard-pressed to add to that total against a Hoffenheim defense that’s allowed just three goals in its last five away matches, keeping clean sheets against both Union Berlin and Werder Bremen.

Paderborn have also never scored against Hoffenheim in five all-time league meetings, with those fixtures producing seven total goals. Both clubs were misfiring in their first game back from the break, and I’d expect much of the same here. This total is far too high.

Pick: Under 3 (-110)

Augsburg (+275) at Schalke (-105), Draw (+250)

There was little to like about Schalke’s performance against Dortmund last weekend. They’ll be looking to bounce back defensively here and should find more success. Excluding matches against Bayern and RB Leipzig, Schalke have conceded 10 goals in 11 home matches.

Conversely, Augsburg have scored just 12 goals in 13 away fixtures, failing to find the back of the net in each of their last four. Of those 12 goals, six have come against Hoffenheim and Werder Bremen – the clubs with the two worst home defensive records in the Bundesliga this season.

Don’t expect a whole lot from Schalke’s attack, while defensively, they should rebound from the four-goal beating suffered at the hands of Dortmund. This fixture ended 0-0 last season and a similar result can be expected here.

Pick: Under 2.5 (-105)

Alex Moretto is a sports betting writer for theScore. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, is too impatient for futures, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.

As we await the full return of world football, we’re taking this opportunity to look back on some of the most memorable goals ever scored. Going frame by frame, we’ll dissect how, exactly, these epic moments came to fruition.

Who, where, and when?

• Goalscorer: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
• Match: Barcelona vs. Manchester United
• Competition: Champions League (final)
• Date: May 27, 2009

Barcelona’s 2008-09 season will go down as one of the greatest a European football club has ever authored.

Boasting a 22-year-old Lionel Messi, a spectacular midfield, and rookie manager Pep Guardiola, the club became the first Spanish side to capture the treble, capping its league- and cup-winning domestic campaign by securing the continent’s most coveted honor, the Champions League title.

Though it wasn’t an end-to-end affair, Barca’s 2-0 win over reigning champions Manchester United in the final will long be remembered for the magical moment in which Messi, the tournament’s top scorer that season, found the net with – of all things – a picturesque victory-sealing header.

Here’s the goal, complete with a bevy of wonderful slow-mo angles, in its entirety:

Let’s examine how Messi was able to deliver an iconic Champions League moment, and score a goal he later described as one of his career best.

Setting the scene

The sequence actually begins with Manchester United in possession, as goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar tries to play a long ball out to the left wing in the direction of Cristiano Ronaldo and Patrice Evra.

Exactly 20 seconds after the Dutch netminder boots the ball, it’s in his net. Events unfold quickly at the highest level, especially when you throw in a couple of seemingly innocuous mistakes, and some of the greatest footballers to ever play the game.

Barcelona captain Carles Puyol, deployed at right-back because Dani Alves was unavailable due to a suspension, sets things in motion with an instinctual play.

There’s a moment of hesitation between Ronaldo and Evra – a case of “I got it, no you take it” – when Van der Sar’s pass is in flight, and Puyol pounces. The Spaniard charges between the Manchester United duo and picks off the clearance, bursting forward as the rest of the Red Devils’ backline retreats.

Ronaldo, not exactly known for his exuberance when tracking back and putting in defensive work, watches as Puyol strides away before playing the ball out to the right wing for Samuel Eto’o. Keep that locked away for later, because it eventually becomes very important.

A botched clearance

When Eto’o drives a cross into the box, United are seemingly in good shape.

Despite starting to commit more players forward in search of an equalizer while trailing 1-0 at the time with just over 20 minutes remaining, they still enjoyed a numerical advantage on the play. Five United players were in a defensive position compared to just three Barcelona attackers looking to put the contest on ice.

The retreating Ryan Giggs sticks out a leg and cuts off the cross, poking it toward Evra. This is when things start to fall apart for United.

Under no pressure from Eto’o, Messi, or Puyol – and with nothing but the Stadio Olimpico pitch in front of him – Evra had eons of time to control the ball and stride forward. Instead, the Frenchman tries to hoof it away, but he doesn’t make clean contact and puts it right to Xavi, who’s about to enter the frame.

All the time in the world

Now, remember the lallygagging Ronaldo? Had he shown a little more vigor while retreating, he likely would’ve been able to retrieve Evra’s botched clearance, or at the very least pressure Xavi.

Neither of those things happened. The Spanish pass master gets the ball under his spell and immediately starts scoping the field, while Ronaldo does … basically nothing.

Ronaldo isn’t solely at fault, of course. A number of things still had to occur after Xavi assumed possession for the ball to end up floating overtop of Van der Sar’s head, three of which take place almost simultaneously:

1. Nobody else closes down Xavi, either. Evra can’t charge forward and pressure the ball because he’s wary of leaving Eto’o alone on the wing.
2. The domineering Nemanja Vidic isn’t willing to rush too far out of the penalty area, which is somewhat understandable for a center-back who made his career out of being a brick wall inside his own box. Ideally, a defensive midfielder would confront Xavi, but amid the hubbub of the initial play, United became discombobulated. Vidic was actually the one who shifted over to confront Eto’o (first screenshot), as Evra was still racing back into position.
3. Rio Ferdinand, who’s marking Messi, is flat-footed for a split second as Xavi starts to set himself for the pass.

A split-second lapse, and a perfect pass

It’s important to note that Ferdinand, who together with Vidic formed one of the most celebrated central defensive partnerships in Premier League history, stands 6-foot-2. Barcelona list Messi, meanwhile, at 5-foot-7, but that’s almost certainly an exaggeration of his actual height. Either way, under no circumstance should the little Argentine ever outdo Ferdinand in the air.

“It was hard to imagine that I was going to score with my head with (Rio) Ferdinand standing near me, but I didn’t really have a marker – the ball came into the center and I was there to meet it,” Messi later said.

Ferdinand isn’t quite tight enough to the Barcelona megastar, leaving just enough space for Xavi to drop a dime onto his teammate’s head. Were it someone else, the cross may not have been perfect, and Ferdinand could have headed it to safety.

Unfortunately for Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United, Xavi is one of the greatest passers in football history. Once he clipped the ball into the area, Ferdinand was cooked.

To say Messi isn’t known for his aerial abilities would be an understatement. He’s scored 627 goals for Barcelona throughout his storied career, but precious few – 22, to be exact – have come with his head.

As such, it’s perhaps unsurprising that he misjudges the flight of the pass, overrunning it ever so slightly, and then needing to hang in the air for a second and contort his body to make contact.

This isn’t the form you expect to see on a typical headed goal:

In fact, Messi is almost facing sideways when he gets his noggin on the cross.

The stunned responses

Considering Messi himself was surprised, in hindsight, that he scored such a goal, you can forgive the Manchester United players for being equally shocked.

John O’Shea, the versatile Irishman who was a staple of the Ferguson era at Old Trafford, lined up at right-back for the match in Rome, and his reaction was appropriate after the ball was nestled beyond Van der Sar:

One of the lasting images is of the shot-stopper himself, mouth agape as Messi’s header begins to soar over his head.

The final word here goes to Messi, who, despite scoring an indelible Diego Maradona-esque goal, gorgeous free-kicks aplenty, and numerous other sensational efforts, counts this header as one of his most treasured tallies.

“My favorite goals are more than just attractive; they are important,” he later said. “It was in the Champions League final and helped us to close the circle with Guardiola and win the (treble), which we had never done.

“That goal rounded up a spectacular game.”

With nearly every major sports league across the world still on hiatus amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Bundesliga resumes this weekend following a two-month absence. Ahead of Saturday’s return to the pitch, here’s everything you need to know about German soccer’s top flight.

Where and when to watch?

The season returns on Saturday, May 16 with a half-dozen matches broadcast by FOX Sports in the United States and Sportsnet in Canada. Both networks will also stream matches online.

Schedule for this weekend’s games

Borussia Dortmund’s matchup with bitter foes Schalke is the standout fixture, as the clash represents one of the fiercest rivalries in European soccer.

Testing, quarantine, and other logistics

All eyes are on the Bundesliga, which, besides attracting fans desperate for sporting action, will also be a reference point for other major leagues looking to restart play amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The German Football League (DFL) has employed a task force to kick-start the resumption of the 2019-20 campaign. Matches will be played at empty stadiums and 25,000 tests will be used to check players, coaches, and first-team staff. Players are tested twice a week and before each match, and all first-team staff for the league’s 18 clubs have been isolated as part of seven-day training camps leading up to Saturday’s restart.

In the event of a positive coronavirus test for a player or staff member, a 14-day quarantine period will be imposed.

How is the season shaping up?

For 16 of the league’s 18 sides, there are nine matches left on the docket – Eintracht Frankfurt and Werder Bremen each have a match in hand. Plans are to have the domestic campaign completed by the end of July before European competitions resume in August.

When the season is completed, the top four teams qualify for the Champions League, while the fifth- and sixth-place sides book spots in next season’s Europa League. A third Europa League berth is allocated to the winner of the German domestic cup, the DFB-Pokal.

The bottom two sides are automatically relegated to the second tier, 2. Bundesliga, while the 16th-place team and the third-place team from the second division play a two-legged playoff at season’s end to secure a position in the top flight.

Here’s what the Bundesliga table has looked like since the league halted operations on March 13:

Which club should you support?

The front-runner

Bayern Munich

• Nickname: Die Roten (The Reds)
• Manager: Hansi Flick
• Player to watch: Alphonso Davies

Record 29-time champs Bayern Munich have overcome early stumbles to regain top spot, as the Bavarian behemoths seek an unprecedented eighth consecutive top-flight title. Robert Lewandowski leads the league in goals (25), Thiago Alcantara highlights a world-class midfield, and Canadian teen talent Alphonso Davies stars at left-back for one of Europe’s best sides.

The title contenders

Borussia Dortmund

• Nickname: Die Schwarzgelben (The Black-Yellows)
• Manager: Lucien Favre
• Player to watch: Jadon Sancho

Blessed with heaps of young talent, Borussia Dortmund feature budding stars like England star Jadon Sancho and Norwegian striker Erling Haaland. The last team not named Bayern Munich to win the league (2011-12), BVB employ tantalizing tactics that should attract neutrals and are backed by fervent support that will be sorely missed at the Signal Iduna Park.

RB Leipzig

• Nickname: Die Roten Bullen (The Red Bulls)
• Manager: Julian Nagelsmann
• Player to watch: Timo Werner

The Bundesliga’s most hated side, RB Leipzig are an outsider tethered to a corporate energy drink in a sea of clubs part-owned by supporters. Formed a little more than a decade ago, Leipzig have surged up the German soccer ladder and play host to some of Europe’s best young starlets, including highly coveted forward Timo Werner.

Borussia Monchengladbach

• Nickname: Die Fohlen (The Foals)
• Manager: Marco Rose
• Player to watch: Marcus Thuram

Few would have foreseen Borussia Monchengladbach’s title charge this season. Managerial newcomer Marco Rose deserves a lot of the praise, as do Marcus Thuram (World Cup winner Lilian’s son), Alassane Plea, and Ramy Bensebaini. Five-time league winners Gladbach boast more than a century of tradition in the soccer-mad North Rhine-Westphalia region.

The European hopefuls

Bayer Leverkusen

• Nickname: Die Werkself (The Working 11)
• Manager: Peter Bosz
• Player to watch: Kai Havertz

From the same area as Dortmund, Gladbach, and others on this list, Bayer Leverkusen hold a unique place in the country’s game. Leon Bailey and Moussa Diaby play at breakneck speeds, Kai Havertz is one of Europe’s budding stars, and first-choice shot-stopper Lukas Hradecky makes for a great interview and loves beer. What’s not to like?

Schalke 04

• Nickname: Die Knappen (The Miners)
• Manager: David Wagner
• Player to watch: Amine Harit

Another submission from North Rhine-Westphalia, Schalke are one of Germany’s biggest and best-supported outfits. The club’s sporting ethos is intertwined with a community founded on coal-mining roots. In dizzying dribbler Amine Harit and American Weston McKennie, Schalke have two young, alluring stars boosting Die Knappen’s hopes for European competition.

Wolfsburg

• Nickname: Die Wolfe (The Wolves)
• Manager: Oliver Glasner
• Player to watch: Wout Weghorst

Birthed from a town sustained by Volkswagen and a thriving auto industry, 2008-09 Bundesliga winners Wolfsburg are led by the goal-scoring exploits of towering Dutch striker Wout Weghorst and a stingy defense that has conceded the joint-second-fewest goals in the league (30). However, Wolfsburg lack the same spirited local support that many German sides revel in.

Freiburg

• Nickname: Die Breisgauer
• Manager: Christian Streich
• Player to watch: Nils Petersen

Freiburg’s initial plans to avoid relegation have shifted into European ambitions. Not bad for a club with modest resources and a tiny stadium. What the five-time winners of the second tier lack in top-flight honors, they make up for in enterprise. With eight goals this season, Nils Petersen passed current Germany international manager Joachim Low for the club’s all-time scoring mark.

Hoffenheim

• Nickname: Die Kraichgauer
• Manager: Alfred Schreuder
• Player to watch: Andrej Kramaric

A longtime lower-league afterthought boosted by the financial backing of software mogul Dietmar Hopp, Hoffenheim were first promoted to the Bundesliga in 2008. Like Leipzig, Hoffenheim are labeled a plastic club, and Hopp has been the focal point of several protests from supporters of other sides. Nevertheless, Hoffenheim sit just two points adrift of a European spot.

The mid-table inhabitants

FC Koln

• Nickname: The Billy Goats
• Manager: Markus Gisdol
• Player to watch: Jhon Cordoba

Germany’s fourth-best supported club, FC Koln endured a rocky return to the Bundesliga this season with nine defeats in the opening 12 matches before a stellar run since December altered their path. Veteran displays from Jonas Hector and Timo Horn have been paired with a breakthrough from Sebastiaan Bornauw to good effect. Also, a derby at the RheinEnergieSTADION is a must.

Union Berlin

• Nickname: Eisern Union (Iron Union)
• Manager: Urs Fischer
• Player to watch: Sebastian Andersson

Capital-city side Union Berlin are in their first campaign in the top flight, and the club has a lasting history that includes a spell on the Eastern Bloc side during the Cold War. Their supporters are animated and creative, and a shrewd offseason recruitment that brought in experienced players like Neven Subotic has made survival a reality. For more, this is a must-watch.

Eintracht Frankfurt

• Nickname: Die Adler (The Eagles)
• Manager: Adi Hutter
• Player to watch: Filip Kostic

It should come as little surprise that Eintracht Frankfurt are mired in mid-table mediocrity after the summer sale of three players who accounted for 41 of the club’s 60 Bundesliga goals a year ago. Winger Filip Kostic has been a bright spot for the cup finalists. In terms of aesthetics, the formidable club crest is a reference to the one-headed imperial eagle of the 13th century.

Hertha Berlin

• Nickname: Die Alte Dame (The Old Lady)
• Manager: Bruno Labbadia
• Player to watch: Matheus Cunha

Backed by recent investment, Hertha Berlin are on the ascendancy and spent big in the January transfer window on the likes of Krzysztof Piatek and Matheus Cunha. Hertha may be from the capital, but the club has a pittance of followers compared to most German sides; people from across the country live in Berlin, and they tend to support their hometown clubs.

The relegation worriers

Augsburg

• Nickname: Die Fuggerstadter
• Manager: Heiko Herrlich
• Player to watch: Florian Niederlechner

Augsburg are familiar with relegation battles, though the Bavarian minnows are on course for a 10th straight season in the top flight after having spent their entire history in the lower leagues. Augsburg have the second-worst away form – though, in terms of positives, Florian Niederlechner’s 11 goals are nearly a third of the team’s total haul. Also, their home kits are slick.

Mainz 05

• Nickname: Die Nullfunfer (The Zero-Fivers)
• Manager: Achim Beierlorzer
• Player to watch: Robin Quaison

Thanks to Swedish attacker Robin Quaison’s dozen Bundesliga goals, Mainz are narrowly above the relegation zone despite conceding the third-most tallies. Mainz is one of Germany’s foremost carnival cities, and after every home goal, the “Narrhallamarsch” tune is played on the loudspeakers. That makes for a good time, even if the soccer isn’t always as festive.

Fortuna Dusseldorf

• Nickname: Die Flingeraner
• Manager: Uwe Rosler
• Player to watch: Erik Thommy

Fortuna Dusseldorf’s 25th season in the Bundesliga has not been their best, and after easily surviving the drop a year ago, second-season syndrome has sunk in. That’ll happen when you win just four matches ahead of the winter break. Matters have improved under veteran manager Uwe Rosler, with just one defeat in six matches since the former Manchester City star’s appointment.

Werder Bremen

• Nickname: The Green-Whites
• Manager: Florian Kohfeldt
• Player to watch: Milot Rashica

Most sides struggling to survive relegation have little top-flight history, but four-time Bundesliga champs Werder Bremen are an exception. Conceding the most goals (55) hasn’t helped, nor has scoring the joint-fewest times (27). After each home goal, The Proclaimers’ smash hit “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” is played, which could soon symbolize Bremen’s distance from the top.

Paderborn 07

• Nickname: None
• Manager: Steffen Baumgart
• Player to watch: Streli Mamba

For a club that has either been promoted or relegated in each of the last six seasons, Paderborn’s yo-yo status and position propping up the Bundesliga table is hardly a shock. A return to the second tier beckons for the North-Rhine Westphalian side, which has suffered defeat in 17 of 25 league outings this season. Auf wiedersehen, Paderborn.

Breeding ground for young stars

There are plenty of reasons to tune in for the resumption of Bundesliga play, and the litany of emerging talent cutting its teeth in the top flight of German soccer is one of them.

From a North American perspective, none of Europe’s top five leagues features the same caliber of players from the United States and Canada as the Bundesliga.

Canadian teen Davies is developing into a cornerstone at Bayern and American midfielder McKennie is doing the same at Schalke, as is 17-year-old U.S. youth international Giovanni Reyna with Dortmund. Add in names like Josh Sargent (Werder Bremen), Tyler Adams (Leipzig), and John Brooks (Wolfsburg), and it’s apparent that Bundesliga continues to furnish career opportunities for players from abroad, which should curry favor with North American fans.

Find out the latest on COVID-19’s impact on the sports world and when sports are returning by subscribing to Breaking News push notifications in the Sports and COVID-19 section.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin says the governing body has put together a plan for the 2019-20 season to be completed in August, including the Champions League and Europa League tournaments.

The majority of European leagues have been suspended since mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Germany’s Bundesliga restarted on Saturday in empty stadiums and with strict protocols in place, while several other leagues have announced plans to resume competition.

“We have an idea but we have to wait for the executive committee of UEFA to confirm the dates. I can say that the European season will be finished, if everything is as it is now, in August,” Ceferin told BeIN Sports, according to The Guardian.

Under tentative plans, domestic leagues that have not been canceled – like those in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands – will aim for completion prior to the resumption of the two major continental competitions. Sporting merit will determine spots in next year’s European tournaments for leagues that have been canceled, according to Ceferin.

“As things look now, I’m sure that we can finish the European season and this means UEFA competition. I think the majority of leagues will finish the season. The ones who will not, it’s their decision,” Ceferin added. “But they will still have to play qualifiers if they want to participate in the European UEFA competition.”

Following the cancelation of the Ligue 1 campaign amid a ban on public gatherings in France, Paris Saint-Germain’s and Lyon’s Champions League campaigns were left in limbo.

“If you cannot play in your country, then you have to organize it at a neutral ground. I don’t see the reason why French authorities would not allow them to organize a match without spectators, but let’s see. It’s out of my power,” Ceferin said.

He also discussed the status of the 2020 European Championships after the tournament was moved to summer 2021 to prioritize the completion of domestic leagues. Initially slated to be held across 12 cities for the first time, Ceferin says the number of venues may be reduced in light of the global pandemic.

“We’ve had conversations with nine cities and everything is set,” Ceferin said. “With three cities, we have some issues. So we will discuss further. In principle, we will do it in 12 cities but if not, we are ready to do it in 10, nine, or eight.”