Andres Iniesta comments on Liverpool potentially being denied the Premier League title

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Liverpool being denied the Premier League title would be “very hard” on the Reds, Andres Iniesta has told The Guardian.

With the nation’s football having ground to a halt indefinitely due to the global health crisis, speculation has been raging over how to see out the 2019-20 campaign.

Some of the options up for debate include rendering the season null and void, declaring it finished as things stand, and seeing the remaining fixtures out, either behind closed doors or once it’s safe to do so.

Liverpool are currently 25 points clear at the top of the Premier League table and within touching distance of their first title since 1990, so the Reds will likely be monitoring proceedings closely.

Iniesta is at a loss with regards to a suitable resolution, recognising that getting back to playing and finishing the season looks difficult as things stand.

“I don’t want to be dramatic but you can see it’s going to be really difficult for this [season] to be completed,” he told The Guardian. “Hopefully there will be a turnaround and everything changes radically for the better, but getting back to playing looks difficult now.

“I suppose there will be rules that decide [outcomes] one way or another in exceptional circumstances, but it’s a difficult situation.

“It must be very hard [for teams like Liverpool, who may be denied a title]. Or a second division team on the verge of being promoted, told this season is null and void, that it doesn’t count. Or, the other way round: a team in the relegation zone is saved. Pfff. I don’t know how you resolve it.”

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With how things are at the moment across the world, football – indeed, any kind of sports and live entertainment – is going to be the last thing on most people’s minds.

However, given how far most leagues and competitions have gone, the writer believes that they must be fulfilled, and any knock-on effects passed onto seasons that haven’t begun yet.

Playing behind closed doors wouldn’t be ideal but at least it would enable fixtures to be fulfilled; this, of course, needs to take into consideration the safety and welfare of the players and staff involved.

Even if fixtures cannot safely start again until, let’s say autumn or even next year, so be it.

Fulfil this season, have a shortened campaign next time out, or even a calendar year campaign similar to how they do it in Sweden, or write off 2020-21 if need be.