Madrid (AFP)
The final tournament of the Champions League suffers its first turmoil: the announcement Sunday by Atlético Madrid of the presence of two cases of Covid-19 within it leaves uncertainty on this final phase starting Wednesday in Lisbon, on the background outbreak of the virus in Europe.
This innovative format in "Final 8", supposed to close in an unprecedented but extremely condensed way the most prestigious club football competition at the end of August, is struck by the coronavirus even before its start.
Atlético, which faces Leipzig on Thursday in the quarter-finals (9:00 p.m.), will see its preparations completely turned upside down by these two positive tests, which will lead it to place in isolation two members of the club whose identity has not not been disclosed.
The "Colchoneros" team will be less handicapped if these two cases concern members of its staff rather than its professional workforce, which was not indicated on Sunday, but in any event, the Madrid club will have to conduct a new series of tests as quickly as possible, the outcome of which will be scrutinized with the greatest vigilance.
The two club members who tested positive "are confined to their respective homes" and their names "were immediately communicated to the Spanish and Portuguese health authorities, UEFA, the Spanish Federation, the Portuguese Federation and the Supreme Sports Council ", Atlético said in a statement released Sunday evening. The results were known during the day, for tests taken on Saturday.
While UEFA is betting on a very condensed final tournament between 12 and 23 August and hopes to succeed in creating a health bubble in the Portuguese capital, the timing of these cases may cause concern in view of an end of the competition leaving almost no room for maneuver for possible postponements of meetings.
- Drastic protocol in Lisbon -
The European football body can however hope that Atlético will have managed its health protocol as well as Real Madrid had done in recent days. Real striker Mariano Diaz had indeed tested positive for Covid-19 before the round of 16 second leg of C1 on Manchester City on Friday, but this case remained isolated and did not in any way disturb the holding of the meet.
Atlético also wanted to reassure the football world in its press release, explaining that they had followed a very strict protocol even after the end of the La Liga championship ended on July 19. Thus, "weekly tests" were maintained within the workforce (July 26 and August 2), and training only resumed once the results were known, even if it means "postponing a session as a precaution. "Sunday July 26.
For its final tournament, UEFA is planning a drastic protocol: each team will have to provide test results before traveling to Portugal, and will be tested again on the eve of their first meeting. Each positive test will impose isolation of the player at his hotel.
These contaminations come at a time when the pandemic is giving worrying signs of a restart in a Europe hit this weekend by a scorching episode that pushed many Europeans to the beaches. Spain is not spared: several local quarantines are imposed there, in particular in the Basque Country, Catalonia and Aragon, and the mask has been made compulsory in several high-traffic areas, particularly in the Madrid region.
© 2020 AFP