Madrid (AFP)
Real Madrid players resumed training Monday under the direction of their masked French coach Zinedine Zidane, after two months of forced break due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The scheduled session on the Valdebebas training grounds started at 10:00 (08:00 GMT) according to a very strict protocol to avoid any spread of the Covid-19: the players had to be a maximum of six on the same field.
"Divided into two groups and on several pitches, the Real Madrid football players carried out their first individual exercises with and without a ball," said the club, which published several photos of its players in action.
Among these photos, one showed Zidane giving instructions while being protected by a surgical mask and plastic gloves, while the Belgian international Eden Hazard found the training grounds three months after a right ankle injury which had required surgery.
During confinement, no Madrid player suffered from coronavirus symptoms. But Zidane is deprived of young Serbian striker Luka Jovic, who suffered a fractured right heel on Friday.
Real Madrid's big rival, FC Barcelona, resumed training last Friday, as did Sevilla, Osasuna and Villarreal, respecting all the protocol decreed by the authorities and the Spanish Football League.
Spanish clubs are currently authorized to organize individual training sessions with draconian respect for barrier gestures. The players must arrive separately, already in uniform, gloved and masked and have the temperature taken.
Clubs will then be able to move into breakout sessions, before considering a resumption of the championship which could take place on June 20. On Sunday, the League announced that five players playing in 1st and 2nd division clubs have been diagnosed with the new coronavirus.
Spain is one of the countries most affected by the pandemic with more than 26,000 deaths.
© 2020 AFP