Willkommen zurück!

Since the Bundesliga came back this weekend, it seemed only fitting that I should follow suit. But we'll get to that exciting news (about ze Germans, not me) in a moment. First, I'll explain my extended absence. No, I'm not dead, and yes, we're staying fit and healthy here. Despite the fact that there were no games to go over, I've actually been fortunate enough to stay really busy with work, and with other unrelated business matters. And with really long bicycle rides of solitude. Plus, before the forced work-from-home pause, the lady had been on her grind with a rollout project that kept her at the office from 9-to-9, 6-7 days a week, for a couple months. So basically we've been stay-cationing like mofos, and hey, time gets away from ya.

After this post, I will complete the Clipboard by posting the striker chart (which should have happened already, because it's been sitting on my notepad for weeks now) later today, and will be back with a non-soccer top 5'er that will suggest foreign shows you should be binging during all this extra time at home. And then later this week, I'm going to start updating all my Americans Abroad stat leader charts, because that hasn't happened in a few years. If that's not enough, I've also some seriously badass cuts and albums saved up to feature in the coming days. Make sure you check out that Harper's Jar album, it's ba-dass.

Now... back to today's main matter at hand: top flight soccer returning to our lives. Finally. Hellsyeah. Wunderbar.

In case you missed the action, here's a little taste of what the Revierderby sounded like without 80,000 screaming fans in the house (and of Erling Håland's six-foot berth FIFA20 glitch celebration, to boot).

Haaland welome us back, and of cause with a social distance celebration pic.twitter.com/y4OoBRuCNm

— Kunle🇳🇬 (@sanda_kunle) May 16, 2020

At least German clubs didn't go the way of FC Seoul to provide, erm... ambience.

2016 K League winners FC Seoul inadvertently used sex dolls rather than fashion mannequins to help fill empty stands this weekend. The club has apologised. Both the club and the supplier are pointing fingers at others. (It's not just COVID-19 you need to avoid catching!) #kleague pic.twitter.com/59rSU8XxYL

— Devon Rowcliffe (@WhoAteTheSquid) May 17, 2020

I've also grabbed a mini-Few Things regarding this return for your morning perusal.

• Sky Sports gives a generally positive (or, at least, understanding) rundown of how things worked, both on and off the field.

• Of course, not everyone was so cheerful about league play in empty stadiums.

• Here's something worth noting: Bundesliga viewing records were smashed in Germany, which had to be music to league office/club ownership ears. If this is going to help cover the financial losses from the break, they'll need eyes on TV sets. And even better, the record-smashing extended well beyond the border, and even to America. They definitely got those eyes, y'all. At least for the first round back. You can help boost those ratings when Josh Sargent and Werder Bremen tackle Bayer Leverkusen on Fox Sports 2 in a few hours.

And for those who aren't yet familiar with the Bundesliga, but fully intend to watch it now, the official league website has offered up a handy dandy helper. It's the ol' "Who should I root for?" flowchart (click the pic for full size), complete with team descriptions.

- Greg Seltzer