• Seven La Liga ambassadors discuss the return of season on Thursday, 11 June.
• Steve McManaman believes Real Madrid has a great chance of winning the La Liga title.
• Luis Garcia thinks that having no fans in the stadiums will create interesting full-time results in certain matches.

Former Real Madrid midfielder Steve McManaman is hopeful that Los Blancos can cross the finish line of the 2019/20 La Liga campaign as champions.

During a worldwide virtual press conference with selected media, McManaman was joined by fellow La Liga ambassadors Diego Forlan, Luis Garcia, Gaizka Mendieta, Christian Karembeu, Freddie Kanout and Fernando Sanz to discuss the season restart on Thursday, 11 June.

Global football was brought to stop and suspended due to the Covid-19 outbreak which has killed over 1 million people.

McManaman is curious to see how players will cope with the swift return as teams have only begun training late last month.

"The schedule is tight with just 5-6 weeks and so the teams with quality players and big squads, which have better player back-ups, will do better," McManaman said.

"Barcelona and Real Madrid have these, and it is a very close race between the two at the top. Those injured (in Barcelona and Real Madrid) are back.

"Everybody seemed to be fit and so they will benefit from the three months of break. Both Barca and Real can go full throttle at each other now. But I hope Real win the title."

Meanwhile, the Bundesliga was the first European top-flight league to return to action with no fan attendance in May.

The La Liga, Serie A and the Premier League will follow the same protocols as their respective leagues are set to resume this month.

Garcia believes that with no crowd attendance it will level the playing field and could play a huge role in deciding the title, Champions League places and the relegation battle. 

"The atmosphere the fans bring is very special," the former Atletico Madrid and Liverpool midfielder said.

"To play with a crowd cheering or booing you is special. We always like to go to places like Valencia and Sevilla, where there are special crowds.

"It's going to tough for the players to adapt to the situation but that's the way it is.

"You see Real Madrid may play in a smaller stadium (the 6 000-seat Alfredo di Stefano Stadium based at their training ground) so they are more familiar with that kind of smaller training environment, but the players must be focused on winning the three points."