The best football moment of 2020

The best football moments of 2020 are a group of special events, not only for the actual value they have in football, but also for everything that are meant outside of it. The pandemic has affected societies around the world, leaving football and sport in general to be the only thing to watch for a few months. We have witnessed great mourning (Maradona, Paolo Rossi, Kobe Bryant) and at the end of sporting cycles (that of Barcelona), all marked by the presence of the pandemic. These are the best moments of football of 2020, which although for everyone it was one of the most intensely negative periods, also for this reason, its sporting moments, will be remembered for a long time.  

1. First South Corea match

The first post-lockdown football match was played on May 8, or rather, the first game played since the end of the first wave of the pandemic. In the K-League, South Korea's championship, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors-Suwon Samsung Bluewings competed in front of fifty spectators and with strict rules to reduce the race to indispensable contacts - no group celebrations could be performed. The game ended 1-0 for the hosts and scored Dong-Gook Lee. 

2. Champions League final with no fans 

Paris Saint Germain v Bayern Munich was the first Champions League final to be played without a crowd. In Lisbon, where almost the entire knockout stage of the competition took place - from the quarter-finals onwards - the Germans beat the French 1-0 in an absurd context. The vibrations of a final were flattened and the stands almost completely empty, and although fans and fans followed the race carefully - it was still a final - the atmosphere of the Da Luz stadium was completely unusual - in negative.

3. Diego Armando Maradona stadium of Neaples 

The death of Diego Armando Maradona on 25 November necessarily marked the year of all sportsmen and women. In Naples and Argentina, then, even more. So much so that among the thousands of dedicatees, tributes and celebrations, one of the most historic acts is the change of name of the Stadium of Naples, which from Stadio San Paolo becomes Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. The Azzurri's debut in the new 'Maradona' went very well: on Sunday 13 December they beat Sampdoria 2-1. 

4. Fastest goal in Serie A history

Following the contemporary paradigm that in today's football it is young players who are crucial, the fastest goal in Serie A could only mark a class of 1999. On Sunday, November 20, at the Mapei Stadium against Sassuolo, Milan striker Rafael Leão scored after 6.80 seconds from the opening whistle, on an assist from Calhanoglu: ball touched, a few meters ball to the Turkish player's foot, then filtering for the Portuguese who with three touches pulls and scores. Ac Milan's alacrity of this action marked the fastest goal in Serie A history, breaking Paolo Poggi's previous record in Fiorentina-Piacenza in 2001 (it took 8 seconds). 

5. No Balon d'Or

Due to the coronavirus, for the first time in history since it was established, the Ballon d'Or has not been awarded this year. In his place, to reward the best player of the year, as alaways was awarded the FIFA Best Player, won by Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski, author of the treble with Bayern and scorer of 55 goals this season. Since 1956 the football magazine French France Football has awarded the best player in the world in the calendar year and is considered the best individual award for a footballer.

6. Moukoko first goal

Despite the away defeat to Union Berlin, the match on 19 December will remain in the history of Borussia Dortmund and the Bundesliga. Striker Youssuffa Moukoko was the youngest goalscorer in Bundesliga history, at 16 years and 28 days. The German player is the second youngest player to score his first goal in the major European leagues, the first, practically, since 1937, since former striker Amedeo Amedei, a goalscorer at 15 years, 9 months and 15 days with Roma.  

7. Liverpool FC Premier League title

The last time Liverpool won the English League, the Premier League was not already the Premier League. The name was the First Division and kenny dalglish was on the bench at Anfield. In 2020, the Reds won their 19th English title with Jurgen Klöpp, breaking Manchester City by 18 points. The title win was celebrated with fun despite the ongoing pandemic, but historically, it was a very significant football moment, both for Liverpool's recent results on the pitch and for the long absence of the trophy from Anfield.

8. Football tributes to Kobe Bryant

On January 26, 2020, Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash, opening days of mourning for each sport. The death of such a significant athlete was celebrated by many footballers, signing a moment of contact between football and basketball that had never been seen. Neymar, AC Milan, Galatasaray, many wanted to greet the former Lakers champion, a great football fan and well-known AC Milan fan.

9. The telegram of Leo Messi 

Towards the end of August, Barcelona received a telegram from Leo Messi in which the Argentine asked the club to be sold. After a season full of difficulties and no trophy won, also due to bad relations with president Josep Maria Bartomeu, Messi officially asked for the sale to the club with which he has always played, triggering a period of football transfer discussions about his future team - including, due to the purchase of an apartment in Milan, also Inter Milan.

10.  Barcelona-Bayern Munich 2-8

The last time Barcelona had scored 8 goals in a single game was 1946. 74 years later, during the Champions League quarter-finals, Lewandovski's Bayern Munich killed off the myth of invincible Barcelona FC, Messi, Pique, with goals and a game that was never in question. The result also puts an end to the idea of football that had distinguished the Barca's modern game, made by possession and attacking skills. This defeat, combined with the Messi's pain and the resignation of Bartomeu (announced in November), mark the beginning of a new era for Barcelona F.C., the top club that maybe, by results, image and finances, has emerged from the most destroyed pandemic of all.