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The managerial landscape is rife with uncertainty given the pushed-back timelines of the domestic league seasons, but there was heavy speculation prior to the hiatus that Diego Simeone could leave his post as Atletico Madrid manager this summer.

Simeone has been at the club since 2011 and, in that time, established himself as one of the best managers in world football, leading the club to one La Liga title, two Europa League triumphs, and a pair of Champions League runner-up medals.

Should he decide to depart, his successor would have massive shoes to fill.

Jose Bordalas

There’s a reason Bordalas is the clear favorite on the oddsboard. The 56-year-old shares a remarkable likeness to Simeone in both personality and tactics. They’re both incredibly passionate, fiery individuals who demand a lot from their squad while adopting a practical approach to its playing styles.

Bordalas manages just down the road in Madrid, where he’s been since 2016, guiding Getafe up from the second division. The club is in the midst of another terrific campaign, as it is into the last-16 of the Europa League and was tied for fourth place in La Liga when the season was suspended, giving it a real shot at Champions League qualification. Bordalas built the club up in his own image and did so brilliantly, leaving little doubt he would experience immediate success at the Wanda Metropolitano should Atleti come knocking.

Mauricio Pochettino

Wouldn’t it be something if Atletico swapped one Argentine for another? Simeone and Pochettino played together with the national team back in the day and know each other quite well. The former Tottenham boss has expressed a desire to manage in Spain and would bring the sort of pedigree and experience to the club that supporters would appreciate.

Of course, the former Spurs gaffer would bring with him a clear shift in styles. Pochettino’s teams play a possession-based, attack-minded style, while Simeone’s Atletico are a lot more comfortable playing deeper and hitting back on the counter.

There’s no reason to think Atletico would be against a shift, but the main hurdle here is the competition they would face for his signature. Pochettino is arguably the most in-demand manager available, with Real Madrid and Newcastle among the clubs after his services. Could Atleti find a way to beat out the others and lure him to the Wanda Metropolitano?

Nuno Espirito Santo

Exactly as Bordalas has done with Getafe, Nuno has built up Wolves in his image, bringing them from the English Championship up to the Premier League. The club is a leg away from the Europa League quarterfinals and competing for a top-four league finish. His achievements with Wolves have been nothing short of outstanding, and there’s no question he’s deserving of a job of this stature.

He’s got experience managing in Spain, spending 18 months with Valencia, during which he led the club to the Champions League and won the Manager of the Month award three times. He’s a very affable figure who would have no issue endearing himself to supporters. Bordalas would certainly come cheaper than Nuno and be easier to pry away, but at this price, it’s worth taking a flier on the Wolves boss.

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.

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La Liga’s plan to return to action was exhaustive. To ensure teams can play during the global crisis, a four-part protocol was reportedly drawn up that includes daily coronavirus tests, isolating players from their families, and even biodegradable kit bags. The process, designed to have players match-ready in a month, was approved by medical departments at seven different Spanish clubs, and discussions over its implementation began last Wednesday.

The plan was exhaustive, but it missed one vital element: the players’ consent. Their safety is being disregarded.

La Liga president Javier Tebas crunched the numbers and calculated that finishing the season without fans could cause a financial shortfall of around €300 million. However, that’s obviously preferable to a bill of approximately €1 billion for canceling the campaign entirely. He insists soccer should return before other public events because it represents 1.37% of the country’s GDP.

However, as someone who prioritizes fiscal matters over sense, Tebas must appreciate that professional sports contracts don’t state an expectation to risk lives during a pandemic. It’s above the pay grade of any athlete.

It seems, though, Tebas is underestimating the collective power of footballers. The union for players in Spain is one of the more active of its kind in Europe. It wasn’t long ago when captains and vice-captains from each of La Liga’s 20 clubs helped scupper the league’s plan to stage a match in the United States; the players’ disapproval was key in temporarily thwarting the money-spinning scheme.

So, one should anticipate player backlash over this radical plot to march on while a disease suffocates much of the planet.

La Liga’s inhumane and hurried mission to restart the campaign isn’t entirely unique. Germany’s Bundesliga and second tier are aiming to return as soon as May 9 but, unlike their Spanish counterparts, league authorities haven’t leaked too many details on how this will be executed. One of the few aspects released for public consumption was the caps on people allowed inside (213) and outside (109) the stadiums during a matchday; social distancing in the corridors, technical areas, and executive suites will be nearly impossible with figures like those.

The entire concept delivers a mixed message. There have been overdue, yet significant, advancements in player safety in recent years – improved medical training and access to equipment such as defibrillators among them – so the idea of footballers risking infection by being in close quarters with teammates, opponents, officials, and other personnel clashes with those initiatives. It seems players’ health isn’t that important, after all.

Players have even been told how to spend their salaries since the onset of COVID-19. The debate over Premier League players’ duty to help out during the crisis was already smoldering before it ignited during a daily government briefing at the start of April when health security Matt Hancock took aim at the English game.

“Given the sacrifices many people are making … the first thing Premier League footballers can do is make a contribution, take a pay cut, and play their part,” he said.

Soccer players front what is arguably the United Kingdom’s most prominent industry, so they were easy targets. The message was clear: footballers should contribute, but on everybody else’s terms.

The Premier League acted in accordance with the government’s stance and asked players to cut their wages by 30%. And, in a move widely panned, the players refused. But why would they cede part of their salaries for organizations that – to use Norwich City as an example – are willing to furlough staff and then broker a deal for a new player in the space of 10 days?

Instead, the players devised their own way of donating directly to vulnerable communities and the medical effort at large. Without leagues, clubs, or the government chiming in, they came up with a solution.

Be it sporting or financial, the discussion surrounding footballers during COVID-19 has been riddled with presumption from bigwigs of all levels. Soccer has asked a lot of its athletes without asking them anything at all. Before another ball is kicked, that needs to change.

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When the Bundesliga season was suspended in March, so to was Robert Lewandowski’s bid to lead the league in goals for a third successive campaign.

The Bayern Munich forward has long established himself as the Bundesliga’s most feared striker. He’s been the league’s top scorer in four of the last six seasons – finishing second the other two years – and was on pace to top the scoring charts again in 2019-20.

Given Lewandowski’s cushion in the golden boot race with nine games remaining, oddsmakers have set him as a healthy favorite to finish as the Bundesliga’s top scorer.

Let’s examine the top candidates for the Bundesliga scoring title.

Robert Lewandowski, Bayern Munich

Appearing in 23 of Bayern’s 25 league matches this season, Lewandowski is on pace for 34 goals this season – Koln’s Dieter Muller was the last player to reach that total, in 1976-77. That’s largely due to his initial torrid pace, as he scored 16 times in the first 11 games of the season. He’s since cooled off, netting nine goals in 12 matches before injuring his shin and missing Bayern’s final two games before the season was suspended.

If this lengthy layoff proves to halt Lewandowski’s momentum, or if he requires a few matches to get back to fitness, it would open the door for a tighter-than-anticipated race for the golden boot.

Timo Werner, RB Leipzig

If Lewandowski’s form dips, could Werner pounce? The RB Leipzig forward is very much a streaky scorer and the schedule is set up nicely for him to end the season on a high-scoring run. As mentioned in the title odds article earlier this week, Leipzig still get to play against five of the bottom six clubs in their nine remaining matches. Furthermore, the club will play seven of the eight worse defensive teams this season. Werner has the potential to feast.

He went on a remarkable run between November and January, scoring 14 goals in a span of nine league matches, and a similar run to end the year would almost assuredly see him top the scoring chart. There’s some value here at +300.

Jadon Sancho, Borussia Dortmund

With Erling Haland and Marco Reus also residing in Dortmund, Sancho doesn’t spend any time as the club’s primary forward. Playing solely as a winger, the young English attacker has been involved in more goals than any other player this season, with 16 assists to go with his 14 markers. But it’s the fact that he’s not the focal point of the Dortmund attack that holds him back from scoring more himself, and that’s even truer now with Haland in the fold. Sancho is putting together a sensational campaign, but he’s hardly a threat to Lewandowski.

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.

If voting for the annual Puskas Award winner seems like a tall order, ranking the past victors of the prestigious honor is nearly impossible. Nevertheless, theScore ranks the 11 goals that were considered the most aesthetically pleasing in their respective years.

11. Mohamed Salah, Liverpool (2018)

This might not have even been the best goal that Mohamed Salah scored during his epic debut campaign at Liverpool. But, on the heels of his record-breaking season, who can blame FIFA for wanting to celebrate the Egyptian star and the beautiful goal he bagged in his first Merseyside derby?

10. Wendell Lira, Goianesia (2015)

It’s difficult to argue that Wendell Lira’s goal, though incredibly impressive, was anywhere near as good as Lionel Messi’s legendary solo effort against Athletic Bilbao in 2015. But, in the end, the Puskas Award went to the Brazilian, who somehow ended up finishing well in front of second-place Messi.

9. Mohd Faiz Subri, Penang (2016)

Intentional or not, Puskas Award voters were obviously impressed with Mohd Faiz Subri’s swerving, long-distance strike in the Malaysian Super League. One of the wildest free-kicks of all time, we’ll never know if Subri even aimed for that top corner, or what exactly the goalkeeper was thinking as the ball dramatically curved from the left side of the goal to the right.

8. Miroslav Stoch, Fenerbahce (2012)

Whether you’re a pro or an amateur, most could only dream of pulling off a strike as sweet as Miroslav Stoch’s volley. While Stoch hit it just right, it’s the type of audacious attempt that could have easily landed in Row Z.

7. Hamit Altintop, Turkey (2010)

Hamit Altintop preceded Stoch with a similar walloping effort from the top of the box in 2010, but the edge goes to the Turkish midfielder since he managed to make the sweet connection as the ball came across his body.

6. Neymar, Santos (2011)

While he wasn’t entirely unknown at the time, Neymar didn’t officially introduce himself to the world until he produced this dazzling goal – two years before his arrival at Barcelona. However, he failed to break the top five thanks to Flamengo’s questionable defense.

5. Daniel Zsori, Debrecen (2019)

Even Daniel Zsori couldn’t believe his eyes after his long-distance overhead kick found the back of the net. Zsori executed the acrobatic strike perfectly to score an injury-time winner in his senior debut.

4. Olivier Giroud, Arsenal (2018)

The play looked dead before Olivier Giroud’s scorpion kick off of a poor cross produced one of the most ridiculous Premier League goals ever. After seeing his no-look, backheel volley, TV audiences were probably hitting the rewind button to see if they could figure out how the then-Arsenal forward pulled off his incredible strike.

3. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sweden (2013)

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s eyes probably lit up against England when he saw a chance to fire the type of shot that players only try on the training ground. Although he’s built a reputation for scoring goals that seemingly defy logic, even he must have been surprised when his long-distance bicycle kick found the net. Or maybe not.

2. Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United (2009)

Cristiano Ronaldo made history by scoring this rocket against FC Porto to win the first-ever Puskas Award. Once he realized there was space, it was over, as the then-Manchester United star didn’t think twice before having a go from over 35 yards out to hit one of the cleanest shots you’ll ever see.

1. James Rodriguez, Colombia (2014)

Along the way to becoming the 2014 World Cup’s top scorer, James Rodriguez provided a magical moment football fans will never forget.

Rodriguez had already cemented himself as the competition’s breakout star before Colombia’s quarterfinal clash. But his stock seemingly skyrocketed even higher when he stole the show against Uruguay with a stunning volley, which he executed by knocking a pass down with his chest as defenders closed in before adjusting his body to perfectly strike the ball.