Bundesliga autumn champions FC Bayern Munich will be thwarted by Corona at the start of the new year. The club announced on Saturday evening that after the vacation, Captain Manuel Neuer (was in the Maldives), Kingsley Coman (Dubai), Corentin Tolisso (France) and the Englishman Omar Richards had tested positive for the virus. All players are doing well, reported the record champions. This also applies to co-trainer Dino Toppmöller, who also tested positive.
All five infected people are in quarantine at home. The FC Bayern team will only start preparing for the second half this Monday. The first game of the Munich team will take place next Friday against Borussia Mönchengladbach. The start of training was originally planned for Sunday. As a result of the adaptation of the test and hygiene concept to the current pandemic situation, all players, coaches and staff members would now be PCR tested on Monday morning.
“I will be in quarantine for the next few days because I have tested positive for Corona. Thanks for all wishes for wellbeing! I’m doing pretty well so far, luckily I only have mild symptoms, “wrote Neuer on Instagram and added:” Take care of yourself and stay healthy! “There had been a lot of excitement about unvaccinated stars in Munich in recent weeks. The focus was on national player Joshua Kimmich, who had to take a break for a few weeks.
Corona cases at other clubs
The club announced on Thursday that it was intensifying its testing and hygiene measures. As the Munich team explained, this concerns, for example, “observing distance rules, wearing masks or reducing contact in the vicinity of training units and games”. In addition, “during the winter break, especially booster vaccinations were carried out as a central measure to protect against corona infections or the severe course of a corona infection”.
Before the start of the second half of the season, the Omikron variant, which is considered very contagious, occupies the entire Bundesliga. “In close coordination with the Munich health department” with the start of training, “again tested much more closely and all hygiene measures are intensified,” wrote FC Bayern. Team doctor and Bayern cardiologist Roland Schmidt said: “All players, coaches and staff members for whom this was already possible received the booster vaccination. The rest of them have recovered status or have been vaccinated. “
“With the hygiene concept adapted to the current situation and the expanded test strategy, we want to reduce the risk of a corona infection as possible. We will also pay attention to reducing close contact situations away from the football field, ”explained Schmidt. What impact the infections will have on the start of the second half of the season cannot yet be foreseen.
Several clubs will begin their preparation for the second half of the Bundesliga season this Sunday. SC Freiburg, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and 1. FC Köln start training in 2022. At RB Leipzig, tests are scheduled for Sunday, with training starting on Monday.
The corona situation in the league should therefore remain an issue. Last week, several clubs had already reported corona cases in their squads after the test series at the start of training. Affected were, among others, FC Augsburg, Borussia Mönchengladbach, VfL Wolfsburg, Hertha BSC, Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt. Numerous Bundesliga clubs had already started training again before the turn of the year, including Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt as well as all the clubs in the lower third of the table.
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