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Zinedine Zidane was one of the first to arrive in Valdebebas. He did not want his footballers to be helpless on the day of the return, so he tried to go waiting in the parking lot for anyone who was arriving. Mask, gloves, hydroalcoholic gel near and safety distance as standard. "So what now, Zizou?" Asked one of the members of the Real Madrid first team to ask his coach. Endless doubts, many of them still unanswered . This was one of the many talks that the French coach had with his day laborers before and after undergoing those medical checks that yesterday occupied a large part of the First and Second teams.

The procedure to be followed by the clubs was very similar, all coordinated by the same inspector from the League who a day before had already had to give the go-ahead to cleaning and disinfecting facilities converted into sanitary fortresses. And under the supervision of the medical services of each entity.

In front of the main door of the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper de Sant Joan Despí, a Barça training center, a Urban Guard car was posted. The agents were not concerned that a crowd of fans was organized after 53 days without a trace of footballers around the place, but that the journalists, some thirty, did not respect the safety distances .

Dembélé, without coronavirus test

There were soccer players who, inside the vehicle, preferred not to wear a mask or gloves. It was the case of Leo Messi or Luis Suárez. Nor are they obliged to do so. Although others like Rakitic, Arturo Vidal or the technician of the first team, Quique Setién, they did come with the protection on. In any case, and after an employee took their temperature without leaving the car, everyone who did not have received a mask and gloves before entering the medical center. Who did not appear was Ousmane Dembélé, long-term injured and who was not subjected to the tests ordered by the League as he was not registered in the competition .

In Barcelona, ​​the footballers entered two by two and the tests lasted a quarter of an hour. They underwent the coronavirus detection PCR test, in addition to the serological test -through a drop of blood- by ​​which the immune response against the pathogen is obtained. In addition, the players underwent an analysis and an electrocardiogram.

Before leaving the facilities, Barcelona employees gave the footballers a biodegradable bag with their training clothes. They will have to come with it on the day the individual sessions begin . In the Barça club they hope to be able to obtain the results within two days and start training the same Friday.

Simeone's momentum

It is the same day that Atlético plans to start on the three natural grass pitches of Cerro del Espino de Majadahonda. Each separated by tapes in six work areas and with limited access. Zidane has already planned that, once the club has the authorization, its footballers train in turns with six players in each field.

Stefan Savic was the early riser yesterday. He pulled his car to a stop in the parking lot with his mask and blue gloves on tight, and held up his thumb: "Good morning!" Much more impetuous was the greeting that Diego Pablo Simeone dedicated minutes later. "You miss everything," Morata admitted .

Those walls, which until just a couple of months ago were only red, now combine with a handful of explanatory posters on the measures necessary to prevent the coronavirus. Even some fences indicated the path that each footballer had to follow to undergo the tests. Security members, utilleros, press and cleaning employees, apart from players and coaching staff, also passed the tests.

"Although there is no zero risk, we have no choice but to work so that security is maximum here," admits a source from Barcelona. Football has no other choice.

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  • Ousmane Dembélé
  • Zinedine Zidane
  • Quique Setién
  • Real Madrid
  • Arturo vidal
  • Luis Suarez
  • Leo Messi
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