At Barça Dembélé, Gavi and Umtiti join Alves, Balde, Jordi Alba and Lenglet as infected Barça players, in a dynamic that affects all La Liga clubs
No one is alien to the sixth wave of covid in the League. 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-, has once again encountered the incidence of the coronavirus, 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 have tested positive in the PCR tests to which the entire white squad was subjected on Tuesday, the day before returning to work in Valdebebas, with the duel in Getafe next Sunday on the horizon.
If Ancelotti regrets bad news, the outlook is worse for Xavi. One day after the exciting presentation of a level reinforcement like Ferran Torres to the Barça coach, three more players fell for his visit to Mallorca next Sunday. To the positives for covid by Dani Alves and Lenglet, the contagions of Jordi Alba and Balde were added on Tuesday, leaving the coach of Tarrasa without natural options for the left side and with a defense in the box. Now he also loses Dembélé, Gavi and Umtiti, three new cases in the Barça squad confirmed this Wednesday by the club.
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, Sergi Roberto and Dest are still in the process of recovering from their respective physical ailments while Busquets is sanctioned, so the casualty part rises to 14 players, leaving Xavi with eleven troops of the first team, including goalkeepers Ter Stegen, Neto and Iñaki Peña, so it only has Piqué, Araujo, Eric, Mingueza, Frenkie de Jong, Riqui Puig, Coutinho and Luuk de Jong as outfield players plus the homegrown players Nico González , Jutglà and Abde., Habitual in the last Barcelona line-ups.
The barrage of cases at Barça is nothing but a faithful reflection of what happens in the last hours in all the clubs in the League. The constant drip of positives places the number of cases at more than 200 among First and Second squads, Spanish professional football. 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 game 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 is already testing with the club’s employers.
In the last hours, Sevilla announced three cases in its squad late in the morning, without specifying specific names, a not entirely negative balance in light of the current situation. Two of the three positives were already positive during their vacations, so it is expected from the Seville club that the affected players will be able to rejoin training in the coming days. For now they are at home and asymptomatic.
In Valencia there are four cases detected in the return to training with an eye on the match against Espanyol at Mestalla, which will be played on New Year’s Eve from 16:15. For its part, Atlético will train at Cerro del Espino individually, waiting for the results of the tests to which the footballers, coaching staff and employees will undergo a group session on Thursday.
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