There is still no clarity at Borussia Dortmund about the muscle injury that striker Erling Haaland suffered last Saturday. However, it is clear that now he has one more week to recover and if in doubt, he will miss one game less. The Bundesliga will take a break next weekend, as will the second division, and other major European leagues will also be suspended until early February.

The reason for this unusual interruption was long ago that it is almost forgotten: international matches that were canceled a year and a half ago due to the pandemic will be made for next weekend. “The international window from August 31 to September 8, 2020 will be replaced by a window from January 24 to February 1, 2022 – for all federations except UEFA”, it says in a decision by FIFA from August 2020. This happens for Brazil. Example In Ecuador, Argentina plays with Lionel Messi in Chile. Like Iraq and Iran, America and Canada also meet.

The fact that UEFA countries played their international matches in autumn 2020 despite the pandemic is now an unexpected relief to the European national players, which are being used by many German clubs for Test matches. VfB Stuttgart, last in the Bundesliga, also flew to a training camp in Spain.