In this bleak midsummer of masks and bubbles, it falls to the Premier League to provide reassurance through its own timeless madness.
Just ask Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish, for whom elation, despair and exquisite relief were all wrapped into five frantic minutes.
Grealish served as the emotional barometer for all Villa’s absent fans. No sooner did he cavort like a dervish at what he presumed was the winner than he wished the ground would swallow him whole, having deflected Andriy Yarmolenko’s shot high into the sky and over Pepe Reina for an equaliser.
It is customary at such points for cameras to pan across fans chewing fingernails, mopping fevered brows, pressing headphones into their ears to check on the scores elsewhere. In today’s distanced universe, we had to make do instead with a mosaic of Villa supporters in front of their TVs in full kit, expressing everything from wide-eyed trauma to bleak resignation.
But Grealish, leading his teammates in a jubilant dance once Watford’s loss at Arsenal confirmed Villa’s survival, ensured the human drama stayed intact. So, too, did Dean Smith, whose hesitant smile at the final whistle conveyed multitudes.
Two months ago, the Villa manager lost his father, Ron, to Covid-19 at the age of 79.
It is too early to decide how the 2019-20 Premier League season, all 352 days of it, will ultimately be remembered. The pandemic still rages, the game’s future still hangs precariously from one board meeting to the next, and the ghostly silence at stadiums still reminds us of a virus that has redrawn every facet of life.
But we can be sure, at least, that the campaign held up a mirror to its tumultuous times.
The actions of Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling in championing causes far greater than themselves have in many ways dwarfed the storylines written on the pitch. While Liverpool’s 99 points will be cherished for posterity on Merseyside, it is the quieter moments, from the unified knee-taking at kick-off to the desolate scenes in the stands, that will form the most enduring memories of recent weeks.
Stepping stone
United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said being back in the Champions League is just part of the journey back to the top.
“That’s another stepping stone. You have to go and get fitter and stronger and more robust. It means, better opposition next year and better games and we need to step it up definitely. It means every midweek when we have Champions League you have to go with your best team,” he said.