Germany faces Leipzig in Lisbon on Thursday
Two Coronavirus cases confused Atletico Madrid before traveling to Portugal
All members of the Atletico Madrid team and the technical staff traveling to Lisbon passed the BCR tests. Agencies
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Atletico Madrid announced the discovery of two new cases of Coronavirus in its ranks without revealing their identities, four days before the Champions League quarter-finals contest against Leipzig, Germany, in Lisbon.
“Saturday, August 8, all members of the team and technical staff traveling to Lisbon passed the BCR tests in the Sports City of Majadahonda (near Madrid), as required by the WEFA (European Federation of Game) protocol, in order to participate,” Atlético said in a statement on its official website. In the quarter-finals of the Champions League ».
He continued, "We discovered from the results that we knew, two positive cases, who isolated themselves at home, and their names were immediately reported to the Spanish, Portuguese, and FIFA health authorities, the Spanish Federation, the Portuguese Federation and the Supreme Council for Sports."
The mini-tournament imposed by "Covid-19", after it caused the suspension of competitions since March, will start tomorrow, Wednesday, with the holding of quarter and semi-final confrontations with a system of elimination from one match (instead of home and away) in Lisbon without an audience, reaching the final scheduled for 23 August.
Atlético was supposed to travel to the Portuguese capital on Monday, and he acknowledged that the two positive cases could lead to last-minute changes regarding the travel schedule as well as plans for staying in Lisbon, explaining: “The club will coordinate the new schedules with UEFA, and as soon as there is a plan. New to be announced ».
He added, "We also ask for the utmost respect regarding the identity of the two positive cases."
Spain is one of the countries most affected by the pandemic, with 28,500 deaths out of 310,000 injuries.
Although most sports have resumed their activity after a hiatus since March, there are concerns that the number of injuries is rising again.
France has warned in recent days of the high number of cases, and Spain has closed a town of 32,000 people for two weeks, while Britain imposed new regional restrictions and Germany closed two schools.
The arch-neighbor, Real Madrid, had previously announced that its striker Mariano Diaz had been infected with the "Covid-19" virus before entering the second leg of the final price of the continental competition, but the royal club would not travel to Lisbon because it lost again Friday to Manchester City 1-2, which is the same result. That he lost the first leg at home before stopping.
The other Spanish team, Seville, also announced that one of its players had been infected with the virus without revealing his name, which raised concern that it could affect the completion of the European League competition, "Europa League", which is also being held in a mini-tournament, starting from the quarter-finals in Germany.
The mini-tournament will start from Monday and reach the final scheduled for August 21, and Sevilla meet Thursday in the quarter-finals with Wolverhampton, England, in Duisburg.
• European Champions League and semi-final matches are played with a one-match elimination system.