Real Madrid Boss Zinedine Zidane Plans For 'NBA-Style' Tournament to Decide La Liga Title

​Football is in crisis. There's no other way of putting it. Our beautiful game has ground to a halt across all of Europe, and there is no real end in sight to this dangerous and fast-spreading coronavirus. 

​So, football's governing bodies everywhere are attempting to formulate a logistically fair and feasible method of completing our interrupted seasons, which will decide the winners and losers of the 2019/20 campaign. 

And one man who is trying to make sense of it all is Zinedine Zidane, whose Real Madrid side was heavily involved in a tense La Liga title race with rivals Barcelona, until the league was forced to take a break. 

And according to ​AS, the French boss is working on the basis that his players will have to play once every 48 hours, meaning he and his coaching staff would have to prepare his stars in the NBA model of playing more often and training far less. 

These extreme circumstances are far from ideal for Zidane and ​Madrid, given the likelihood of losing players through fatigue-related injuries.

But this plan seems the likeliest outcome at the moment, and it hinges on two key dates. Madrid Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida has pointed towards March 25 or 26 as the first day of note, 'when it will be known if the contagion curve flattens a little with respect to the measures that have been taken' in the city.

The second is 15 April, when it will be noted 'if the number of people discharged is higher than the number of people who are infected'.

If these two landmarks pass successfully, then it is suggested La Liga will kick off again around 15 May, and all leagues are hoping to complete their fixtures by 30 June, due to potential problems that could arise with expiring contracts and loan deals. 

This means that all Spanish clubs will have six weeks to finish their 11 matches, allowing time to also be allocated to those who still have European commitments to fulfil. 

​But again, it all depends on the country's wellbeing, which is being affected badly by the coronavirus. Spain is the second-most infected European nation behind Italy, and the entire population is on lockdown after the government enforced a state of emergency amid the spreading of the deadly disease. 

It is almost certain that this state will last until Easter, and the football world will have to hold its collective breath to see if it gets the green light in the weeks that follow.