With there being no certainty what will happen with regards to the rest of the Premier League season, there’s inevitably been endless opinions on how things could be decided if matches are too difficult to complete.
One option suggested has been using the table as it is now to decide final positions. That would see Liverpool become champions, and Norwich City, Aston Villa and Bournemouth relegated.
Unsurprisingly, Villa, Norwich and Bournemouth don’t want that route taken, and Jesus García Pitarch, who is sporting director for the Birmingham club, suggests the general consensus is that it won’t be the decision taken.
Speaking to ‘Game Time’ on Spain’s Cope, Pitarch said: “At Aston Villa we are beginning to think about this. If the peak of the Coronavirus is to occur in May, no one thinks of a competition in which players, coaches, and health personnel of the club will continue to appear every day. There are clubs that do not see admissible that the competition resumes on June 30th.
“The most reasonable thing that everyone thinks is that, if the league has to be stopped, that there are no relegations. There is a certain unanimity that there should be no descent. The biggest discussion is on whether to determine the European positions, to take as a reference the previous season or as it stands this season.”
Aston Villa have played one less game than their Premier League rivals, and in theory would have climbed out of the relegation places with a victory. Pitarch’s suggestion of general agreement regarding no relegation would suit his club, along with Bournemouth and Norwich City, perfectly.
On Liverpool winning the Premier League title, with Jurgen Klopp’s side so far ahead, Pitarch said: “The logical thing is that with a 25 point advantage, the title would be given to Liverpool, but this is a personal opinion.”
The Villa director added: “We have a very short-term date, a meeting this Thursday in which we will know where we are and what happens. With so many economic interests that there are in the Premier League, it must still be recognised when everything has been discussed, in a competition that generates a lot of money… I think it will not be able to end.”
