Seville (Spain) (AFP)

Covid-19 featured in Seville?

Spain, deprived of its captain Sergio Busquets, and Sweden, also weakened by the coronavirus, clash without several of their stars on Monday (9:00 p.m.), the day of the entry into the running of one of the figures of this Euro: the Pole Robert Lewandowski.

Europe in football is barely recovering from the immense fear generated on Saturday by the cardiac arrest in the middle of a game of the Danish Christian Eriksen.

The environment, "touched" according to its agent Martin Schoots by the supports having poured in from all over the world, will remain under observation in the hospital at least on Monday.

The medical section nevertheless continues to animate the news of the tournament.

Sunday morning, it was the Portuguese Joao Cancelo who tested positive for Covid-19, abandoning the squad of the title holders before their entry into contention on Tuesday against Hungary, in a group F which also includes France and the Germany, opposed Tuesday evening.

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As for the Netherlands, deprived of their titular goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen (Covid-19), they beat Ukraine (3-2) on Sunday night in Amsterdam, before the debut on Monday of three other selections affected by the virus: the Spain, Sweden and Scotland.

For the "Roja", one of the favorites of the tournament despite the non-selection of several big names like Sergio Ramos, it is a question of starting well at home in the Sevillian heat (still nearly 30 degrees expected in the early evening), history to evacuate the doubts born of a largely disturbed preparation.

- "We had to adapt" -

The Spaniards must compose without Busquets, still in isolation after testing positive on June 6 ... while Sweden, already deprived of superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic on injury (knee), advances without his young winger Dejan Kulusevski , prodigy of Juventus Turin, nor Mattias Svanberg, also positive.

These cases of Covid-19 have forced the two selections to place the players in isolation, increase the tests, eliminate certain indoor video analysis sessions or collective training and call on reservists to compensate for possible defections. ..

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"With the absence of + Busi +, we had to adapt," admitted coach Luis Enrique on Sunday.

"But it happens to other selections too. This is no excuse. We really want to start this competition," added the technician, who had said this week to have already seen "worse".

Perhaps an allusion to the catastrophic approach of Spain on the eve of the 2018 World Cup: two days before the tournament, the Spanish federation had sacked its coach Julen Lopetegui, accusing him of having negotiated his departure to Real Madrid.

A bad memory to ward off, after this new truncated preparation.

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"Spain is one of the favorites, there is no doubt (...) We are in the group of six, seven favorites," assured Luis Enrique.

The other Group E match, which features Spain and Sweden, will pit Marek Hamsik's Slovakia against the Poland of Europe's top scorer this season, Robert Lewandowski, on Monday (6 p.m.).

- Scotland, 23 years later -

In Saint Petersburg, in the northernmost stadium of this Euro organized in 11 cities until July 11, the epidemic is also forcing the authorities to adapt.

From Thursday, wearing a mask will become mandatory in fan-zones and no food will be sold there, among other measures put in place to counter a rebound in contamination.

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Before that, "Lewi", the serial goalscorer of Bayern Munich, intends to make a success of his entry in the running, in spite of the absence of his friend Arkadiusz Milik (package), to reiterate the good performance of the Poles at Euro-2016, where they had reached the quarter-finals.

It is up to Lewandowski to show the way against Slovakia which, after 2016, participates in a final phase of the Euro for the second time only since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia (1992).

The other country resulting from this split, the Czech Republic, also begins Monday afternoon (3 p.m.), against Scotland, which for its part lost midfielder John Fleck due to the Covid-19 in preparation.

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But in Glasgow, in a Hampden Park that should shudder with emotion, the local team will be keen to shine: this will be Scotland's first appearance in a major final phase in 23 years, their last participation dating back to the Mondial-1998 in France.

© 2021 AFP