PHOTOS: Fans - real and virtual - out in force for La Liga return

With a video game look for fans at home, the Spanish league resumed Thursday with Sevilla defeating Real Betis 2-0 in the Seville derby. The highly popular match between the southern rivals marked the league's return three months after it was halted by the coronavirus pandemic. La Liga became the second top European league to resume, after the Bundesliga in Germany. The Premier League and the Italian league are set to follow next week.

Football had officially restarted in Spain on Wednesday with the second half of a second-division game that had been halted in December. There were strict health guidelines in place as the topflight resumed, with ball boys being asked to disinfect the ball every time it left the field and players being told to maintain a "safe distance" when talking to the referee.

Players were also asked to "minimize physical contact" during goal celebrations, though there were lots of hugging and plenty of contact between Sevilla players after forward Lucas Ocampos opened the scoring by converting a penalty in the 56th minute. The same happened after midfielder Fernando added to the lead with a header in the 62nd. After the match, players also hugged each other and celebrated in front of the stands, as if fans were present. "We dedicate the victory to them," Ocampos said. "They couldn't be here, but we felt their presence. We have to adapt to this moment."

Fans were not allowed in the 43,000-capacity Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium but virtual crowds and prerecorded chants from fans, similar to those in video games, were added to the television broadcast sent to the rest of the world.

Viewers in Spain were the only ones with the option of watching the original feed from the empty stadium. The images of fans - which did not have the same high-definition look as the ones in modern video games - were superimposed on the lower sections of the main stands and behind the goals, and appeared only when the main camera angles were active. The league says the virtual crowds are only intended to improve the viewing experience while matches are played in empty stadiums. The league has not ruled out having real fans back in the stands by the end of the season if Spain continues to gradually lift restrictions prompted by the pandemic.

There were some glitches with the system, though, as the superimposed fans sometimes briefly disappeared from the stands and interfered with the main image. The virtual crowd noise at first was lower than actual chants from fans, but the effect seemed slightly louder in the second half and worked well during the goals, although there was a longer delay in the sound of the crowd celebration for the second goal compared to the first.

Glitches or not, that didn't stop Sevilla fans - the real ones, that is - partying at the final whistle, from a safe distance...

But players will still face the reality of empty stands in the stadiums for the foreseeable future...