Madrid (AFP)
Atlético Madrid and UEFA can breathe: the Madrid club, affected on Sunday by two cases of Covid-19, did not deplore any new contamination on Monday after another battery of tests, a relief for the European football body in the approach of the final tournament of the Champions League.
The medical results were released in the middle of the day. "The team and the support staff underwent new PCR tests yesterday, Sunday, and the results were all negative," Atlético reported in a statement, three days before their C1 quarter-final against Leipzig on Thursday in Lisbon (9:00 p.m. / 7:00 p.m. GMT).
The members of the Madrid delegation supposed to take off Monday evening for Portugal in order to participate in the "Final 8" of the C1, will therefore be able to go there on Tuesday, with the exception therefore of the two infected players, whose identity has been unveiled by the club: they are Argentine winger Angel Correa and Croatian defender Sime Vrsaljko, both asymptomatic. The second, who was recovering from an injury, was already on the sidelines of the group.
The entire workforce remained Monday morning at his home, eagerly awaiting the results of these new tests carried out on Sunday, which raised concerns about cascading contaminations since the "Atléti" had carried out training on Saturday after the first battery of tests.
Atlético had to cancel their training scheduled for Monday morning, and a session was rescheduled in the afternoon, on the eve of leaving for Lisbon, said the club "colchonero".
- The match "scheduled as planned" -
UEFA, organizer of the Lisbon "Final 8", followed the results of this new battery of tests with the greatest attention, aware that new contaminations could further weaken the final phase of its competition, organized in an extremely condensed format. which leaves little room for any postponement of meetings.
“The match is scheduled as planned,” a spokesperson for the body had soberly reacted to AFP in the morning, without further comment.
The European Confederation remains confident as it has been since the beginning of the summer: it has kept repeating that it did not foresee a plan B for its final tournament, sure of its ability to create a health bubble in the Portuguese capital.
And this, despite the resurgence of the virus in Europe and in particular at the beginning of summer in Portugal, where 180 active sources of contamination were still identified last week, with significant restrictions still in force in the capital Lisbon and its suburbs.
- Drastic protocol -
Despite the concerns, Atlético appear to have handled the situation as well as Real Madrid had 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 in no way disturbed the holding of the meeting.
Anyway, the drastic medical protocol planned by UEFA has seen its first test in recent hours, two days before the first quarter-final scheduled for Wednesday between Paris SG and Atalanta Bergamo.
These health regulations provide for regular tests for the eight teams: one battery before arriving in Portugal, as well as another on the eve of the first meeting of each club. Each team "will have to ensure that no one who tests positive can go to the match venue or participate in it," says the 33-page protocol issued by UEFA.
To be able to play, a team must have 13 healthy players, including the goalkeeper, according to an annex to the protocol.
If a team does not have 13 players on the "A list" submitted to UEFA beforehand, the body "may authorize the rescheduling of the match".
If the match cannot be rescheduled, the team that cannot field 13 players "will be held responsible" and will have lost the match by a score of 3 to 0, further provides in the annex.
ebe-gr-ta-tsc-ama / jed / dep
© 2020 AFP