Champions League: Corona cases at Atlético Madrid – Sport

The times when Atlético Madrid was called “El Pupas” were considered to have passed. “Pupas” is a fantasy word derived from the onomatopoeic term “pupa”, which children learn when they bump into each other: “Ouch!” And it was on everyone’s lips after Georg Schwarzenbeck scored against Atlético Madrid in the national championship final of 1974 in Brussels. In the last second of extra time. From a distance that, in the memories of Atlético fans, grows longer and longer year after year. “Pupas” has since meant something like: There’s always something at Atlético.

Neighbor Real Madrid has won the most important club trophy in European football thirteen times, which has been painful for a long time. Atlético last reached the Champions League final in 2016, and tragically lost after penalties in Milan – against Real Madrid. Now the opportunity for the title seemed more favorable than ever. The only teams that have ever won against Atlético in the Champions League in the 2011/12 tenure of coach Diego Simeone, Juventus Turin and Real Madrid, have been eliminated.

Liverpool FC was thrown out of the competition in the round of 16, against all forecasts. The path to the Champions League title was then shortened due to Corona: all remaining rounds will be played in Lisbon without a second leg until the final on August 23. And then there was the draw, which said that on the way to the final you would only meet teams that have never won the tournament, the game against RB Leipzig is on Thursday. The team of coach Julian Nagelsmann has been preparing for the duel since Saturday, staying in Estoril near Lisbon.

Since Sunday evening everything has looked completely different again. Because Atlético announced that two people from among those who were supposed to go to Lisbon tested positive for Corona. According to reports, the disease has so far been asymptomatic. According to the newspaper Brand it concerns two professionals, the first names are circulating, but have not been confirmed. Should it actually be footballers, they could not be called up on Thursday. El pupas? El pupas.

A message from the club said that all 93 people who were supposed to travel to Lisbon had been tested. Those affected were immediately sent to quarantine at home and the European Football Union (UEFA), as host, and the health authorities in their home country and in Portugal were notified. The first follow-up tests were initiated on Sunday, and more should follow on Monday.

It was already clear that the preparations for the tournament were massively affected. The scheduled departure for Monday evening was postponed, training plans were changed, originally Atlético wanted to stay in the sports city of Benfica Lisbon and train there for the first time on Tuesday. But that’s just the logistics, Madrid and Lisbon are not far away. If it turns out that the infected are two soccer players, and the tests are confirmed, the psychosis should not be small. Even if the antibody test was said to have been positive in almost ten players weeks ago.