Madrid (AFP)

A few days before the restart of the European Football Cups, the announcement of two positive players for Covid-19, Real Madrid on Tuesday and Seville on Wednesday, is fueling concern around the Champions League and the Europa League, whose covers promise to be ultra-dense.

Football thought it was out of the woods: the closed-door completion of most of the major European leagues, in Spain, Germany, England and Italy, prompted optimism for the return of continental competitions, which UEFA has rescheduled in the form of eight-a-side tournaments ("Final 8") played in Portugal and Germany in August.

But everything darkened in 24 hours with the announcement on Wednesday of the positive test of a Sevilla FC player, whose identity was not revealed, the day after a statement from Real Madrid acknowledging that the striker Mariano Diaz had tested positive for Covid-19.

Sevilla FC will face AS Roma in a dry match on Thursday August 6 in Duisburg (Germany) for the knockout stages of the Europa League. Real Madrid, reigning Spanish champions, for their part, face Manchester City in the round of 16 second leg of the Champions League on Friday, August 7 in England, after their 2-1 first leg defeat last February.

If the two Spanish clubs pass this milestone, they will join the seven other qualifiers for the “Final 8” of C1 and C3.

For their part, Mariano Diaz and the unidentified Sevillian player have been placed in quarantine and will not take part in the eighth.

- Suspended workouts -

Sevilla FC, who announced Wednesday that the player tested positive, "is asymptomatic and in good health", hastened to redouble their vigilance and carried out new tests on all players and staff.

"In the first series, all the tests are negative. The results of the second test, which was carried out today (Wednesday), will be known Thursday morning", indicated the Andalusian club, revealing to be aware of the positivity of his player since Monday.

In the meantime, training in Seville is suspended. They should not resume "individually" until Thursday, provided that the latest tests are obviously negative.

The concern is greater on the side of Sevilla than of Madrid because Mariano Diaz, who is like his entourage "perfectly well" according to a message broadcast Tuesday on social networks, has not had recent contact with his teammates at Real .

The Hispanic-Dominican, after a few consecutive days of rest for the title won in La Liga, had passed the tests at his home without having seen his playing partners again.

- Derogation for Real -

This precaution allowed the Madrid team to continue their training on Wednesday, "in accordance with strict health rules", in view of the clash against City.

According to the Spanish press, Real will travel to Manchester on the day of the match to stay there only for the time strictly necessary.

If the United Kingdom imposes a fortnight on travelers arriving from Spain due to the resurgence of Covid-19 in this country, Real Madrid players are not subject to it, by way of exemption for certain sporting events such as the League of champions.

But other competitions could be affected, as Sevilla and Real are not the only two clubs affected in Spain.

Almeria and Zaragoza, who are due to play in the La Liga accession play-offs, indicated on Wednesday that positive cases of Covid-19 have been detected and have suspended their training.

With Girona and Elche, these two clubs are vying for the ultimate place to climb into the top flight next season.

After the imbroglio linked to the cancellation of a match on the last day of 2nd Division due to positive cases at Fuenlabrada, it is a new complication for these play-offs giving access to La Liga, as the calendar begins to become urgent in view of the resumption of the Spanish Championship in early September ...

© 2020 AFP