Barça presents three more cases that leave it in the picture and Atlético, which had been saved from the sixth wave, announces the positives of Simeone, Joao Félix, Griezmann, Koke and Herrera
Return to the uncomfortable protocol that prevents even showering in stadiums, capacity reductions to 75%, incessant trickle of positive cases after the Christmas holidays, threat of postponed matches … No one is oblivious to the sixth wave of covid in the League, which He faces this weekend the first day of the year, the last of the first round of a championship that Real Madrid leads with an iron fist, with several clubs in extreme situations.
Let them tell Xavi Hernández. Days after the exciting announcement for the Catalans of a high-level reinforcement like Ferran Torres, the Barça coach had three more players dropped for his visit to Mallorca. To the positives by covid of Dani Alves, Lenglet, Jordi Alba, Balde, Dembélé, Gavi and Umtiti of the last days, we must add that this Thursday the contagion of three other footballers was known: Dest, Coutinho and Abde, which adds a total of ten professionals affected by covid-19.
The sporting situation begins to be critical in a team that also has a crowded infirmary in the form of injuries. Thus, Ansu Fati, Pedri, Memphis, Braithwaite and Sergi Roberto are still in the process of recovering from their respective physical ailments while Busquets is sanctioned, so the casualty part rises to 16 players, leaving Xavi with seven members of the team. first team, plus goalkeepers Ter Stegen, Neto and Iñaki Peña. It only has Piqué, Araujo, Eric, Mingueza, Frenkie de Jong, Riqui Puig and Luuk de Jong as outfield players, plus the homegrown players Nico González, and Jutglà, common in the latest Barça line-ups.
Atlético de Madrid, which until now had escaped the sixth wave because it later returned to work, announced this Thursday the positives of Simeone, Koke, Griezmann, Herrera and Joao Félix after undergoing PCR tests prior to group training, such and as required by LaLiga protocol. None were positive in the antigen test, but they did in the subsequent examination, which was much more reliable and conclusive.
The Argentine coach was already hit by the disease months ago, the captain and his French friend were on vacation in New York watching the Knicks in the NBA and they return infected to the discipline of Atlético, the Mexican is one of those called to be able to leave in this market and winter and for the Portuguese it is another stick. He was a starter at last and, the best on the field in the pre-Christmas defeat against Granada, and now he is sick again. For some reasons or others, the boy still does not justify the 127 million paid by the rojiblanco club to Benfica.
Real Madrid, which seemed to have successfully dodged an outbreak that caused up to eight player casualties, Modric, Marcelo, Bale, Rodrygo, Lunin, Alaba, Isco and Asensio, again encountered the incidence of the coronavirus on Wednesday, now with the positives of two struts in the goal and the white attack, Courtois and Vinicius, and two alternatives in their midfield, Valverde and Camavinga.
All four were positive in the PCR tests to which the entire white squad was subjected on Tuesday, the day before they returned to work in Valdebebas, with the duel in Getafe next Sunday on the horizon. Apparently, the Belgian goalkeeper would have already given two negatives and the Uruguayan Birdie and Camavinga would be waiting for the second.
Minimum conditions
The constant cases of positives affect practically all the clubs and place the number of cases well above 200 between First and Second squads. Rayo Vallecano is the most affected team, with only eight members of the first team who, together with several footballers from the subsidiary, could play their match against Atlético at the Metropolitano next Sunday, as LaLiga protocol establishes the presence of five players with a token. of the first team and thirteen, including at least one goalkeeper, adding homegrown players. These are the minimum conditions on paper to avoid a postponement that, in any case, the franjirrojo team has already tried with the club’s employers.
For its part, Athletic de Bilbao also communicated in the last hours the infections of Raúl García, Nuñez, Villalibre and Lekue, which add to those already known by Marcelino and Zarraga. Sevilla announced on Wednesday four cases in its squad, without specifying specific names, a not entirely negative balance in light of the current situation. Two of the four positives were already positive during their vacations, so it is expected from the Seville club that the affected players can return to training in the coming days. For now they are at home and asymptomatic.
In Valencia there are also four cases detected in the return to training with an eye to the match against Espanyol at Mestalla, which will be played on the end of the year. And so on. Even Getafe, which had been spared, has at least three positives. Directly or indirectly, no one is spared from this pandemic.
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