Real Madrid communicates the contagion of their coach and their base, two hours before their Euroleague match against Alba Berlin
The Real Madrid coach, Pablo Laso, and the team’s French point guard, Thomas Heurtel, have tested positive for Covid 19. The Madrid club has communicated the news, just two hours before the game against Alba Berlin, corresponding to the 15th Euroleague matchday. The loss of the coach and the player comes in a double-day European week in which Madrid will face Armani Milan this Wednesday, and which will end on Sunday afternoon visiting Murcia, where a UCAM awaits him in the heat of struggle to enter the King’s Cup.
They are the first two cases of contagion in Madrid this season. Last season, a wave of infections in Zenit, Khimki and Asvel forced a change in the regulations and protocols of the Euroleague. From the initial approach of giving up the matches by 20-0 for the affected teams, they were rescheduled on the calendar. The sanitary protocol was reviewed and retouched up to four times. Between October 12 and 23 of last year, nine meetings were suspended (six due to positive cases in one of the teams and three because they were in the quarantine period) and in November another three, up to a total of 12. But since An outbreak detected at Olympiacos that same month, which forced the postponement of their matches against Barça and Asvel, everything stabilized.
Now, the visit of the leader Real Madrid to the Palacio de Deportes in Murcia is in question. If new cases arise throughout the week in the white dressing room, the match against UCAM could even be postponed. It is certain, in any case, that neither Laso nor Heurtel will come to Murcia this Sunday. The university team continues to prepare for the clash with total normality, waiting for the days to pass and the results of the different tests that the Real Madrid players undergo.
“Playing against Real Madrid is always special because you play against one of the best teams in Europe, but we don’t let our emotions take us any further. We are focused on ourselves and on competing day by day. If we are focused, Sunday will be a fun game that we can all enjoy, “said Chris Czerapowicz at a press conference yesterday.
The Swedish forward is one of the new additions to the UCAM squad. He is happy in Murcia and happy with the basketball that is being practiced. «You feel very happy after a great victory, like the one we got against Burgos. We shared the game, we had good team basketball and we really enjoyed that game. This is the line we must follow, ”Czerapowicz stressed.
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