The pandemic situation continues to worsen in the country in general and in soccer in particular . In the last three days, 20 First Division clubs (Barcelona, Celta, Osasuna, Athletic, Granada, Alavés, Valencia, Huesca, Valladolid, Eibar, Levante and Betis, with 25 infections plus the two from Atlético) and Second Division (Málaga, Rayo, Logroñés, Tenerife, Las Palmas, Mallorca and Espanyol) have announced that there are cases of coronavirus in their squads , which hinders the normal development of the preseason. The most drastic assumption is that of Athletic Club de Bilbao, which has a total of six infected. Malaga is also worrying, with five . Given this circumstance, LaLiga is experiencing the rebound with tension, one month after the start of the new season.Thebes reported that matchday 1 would be played on September 12, but it is not yet official and the positives do nothing but happen. To this day only Getafe , Real Madrid , Sevilla (Gudelj has overcome the disease and joins his teammates in the Europa League), Villarreal , Cádiz and Real Sociedad get rid of the virus in Primera.
Of course, following the health protocols set by LaLiga and the institutions, the clubs have isolated their positive cases and have subjected the rest of the squad to further tests to make sure that they have not contracted the disease via their infected teammates. If not, they will be able to train normally, while those infected complete the two-week quarantine . However, there would be a month left for the alleged start of the First Division and the tests after the holidays have shown that the virus lives among us and that infections are the order of the day.
In the Second Division, the 'Fuenlabrada case' was the first warning that the virus can greatly condition a competition . Later, Almería and Zaragoza had contagions that left the Playoff momentarily in the air. The Real Madrid lost to Mariano for the knockout stages of the Champions League and Simeone will be without with Correa nor Vrsaljko virus. Fortunately, they did not suffer more positive and continued in the continental competition without major setback.
Non-professional football has also suffered the ravages of the pandemic first-hand . A contagion in Portugalete postponed the Basque final, which closed last Saturday with the triumph of Portugalete . Three false cases at the Club Deportivo Marino forced the playoffs to be postponed . The RFEF finally annulled it for fear that the same thing would happen again . Meanwhile, the beginning of the next season is a question for debate, due to the lack of a protocol and the financing problems of the periodic tests necessary to preserve the health security of those involved.
A month and many questions in the air
Last May, Javier Tebas said publicly that they were working with the idea of starting the 2020-21 season on the weekend of September 12 . It has not yet been confirmed and, although the situation has changed since then, the initial programming is maintained. However, the rebound in infections, the return to confinement in the most affected towns or the installation of a field hospital in Zaragoza have once again set off the alarms.
The outbreaks of coronavirus have been happening in recent weeks throughout the Spanish territory, which has caused the rate of positives to be above 5%, the threshold set by the WHO to know what situation the pandemic is in and know if it is controlled. Italy, without going any further, has 1%. Since the end of April, Spain did not have similar figures . The newspaper Le Monde is forceful when it comes to defining the situation in our country: "Spain is in a critical situation and with the worst figures in Europe."
Given what has been seen, the start of the new season will not be exempt from the virus. There is still a month left to see the evolution of the pandemic and control the number of positives in each and every one of the clubs. Of course, despite the fact that the possibility was discussed at the time, there will be no audience in the stadiums, except last minute surprise . At the moment, there has been no talk of bubbles, in the style of the NBA, to be able to start the competition while minimizing the risks.
A week of contagions in football
Seven clubs from LaLiga SmartBank and 13 from LaLiga Santander have announced a positive for coronavirus in their squads in the last 72 hours. Espanyol, Mallorca, Las Palmas or Tenerife are some of the clubs affected in Segunda. Barcelona , Valladolid , Celta , Osasuna , Athletic , Granada , Alavés , Valencia , Huesca or Betis , examples of Primera. In addition, Almería had an inconclusive result that put the Playoff back on the ropes and Atlético de Madrid continues to register the infections of Correa and Vrsaljko .
Valencia was the first to report the contagions once the tests back to training had been carried out . AS was able to confirm that the two positives were footballers. Both are isolated in their homes and will repeat the test in the next few hours. It should be remembered that after the match against Atalanta in Milan, the club reported that 35% of the squad contracted the disease, so they could have developed antibodies.
Hours later, Huesca learned the diagnosis of its PCR tests with two positives on the template . The team from Huesca chose to carry out the controls before the meeting of their players, to avoid contagion. Betis also has a contagion in their squad . It is about Loren Morón , who has chosen to share it himself on his social networks. He will remain isolated and will not do the first phase of the preseason with his teammates.
Alavés, for their part, has a total of three infected , although they have not specified whether they are first-team players. In the same vein as other First Division clubs, the Vitoria club chose to carry out the tests individually and without a prior meeting to ensure that none of the players could infect each other and lead to cases such as Fuenlabrada in the Second Division .
Maxime Gonalons has also tested positive, just on the day that Granada made official that they signed him until 2023 . His contagion will not affect the preparation of the squad, since the footballer is still isolated at his home in France and has not been in any contact with the rest of the squad. The club's medical services will assist you electronically, waiting for you to rejoin under Diego Martínez. In the tests carried out on the group, which was going to start the preseason, the case of Darwin Machís was detected .
Already on Wednesday it was Barcelona that opened the batch of statements and reported that one of the footballers who had joined the preseason suffered from the disease. It was confirmed that it is Todibo and that Aleñá would also be isolated by contact. Celta exposed two infections and named them : Brais Méndez and Santi Mina. The Athletic , meanwhile, is the club that has more cases, with a total of six. Unai López , Williams , Sancet or Larrazabal confirmed that they were infected. In Osasuna there was also an affected person: his coach Jagoba Arrasate . The Valladolid , however, did not reveal the identity of his only exposure, but Bruno decided to tell on their own. The Eibar also has one in their ranks, the same as Levante .
In the case of Espanyol, the entire squad underwent PCR tests on Monday to be able to proceed to the start of the preseason. Once the tests were analyzed, a positive case was found in a soccer player who turned out to be asymptomatic. The club announced it at noon and, following the protocols imposed by LaLiga, the player proceeded to quarantine at his home.
The same situation that Mallorca sadly has to face. The Balearic Islands also returned to training, but previously it was time to perform the tests and a positive was also detected. In the same way, the footballer is already isolated and the team was able to return to exercise individually .
The third team from Segunda to announce a positive was UD Las Palmas. The Canarian team also underwent PCR tests on Monday and a positive was detected in the squad. It is also already in quarantine and the island team returned to training, carried out individually and in two groups until Thursday , when the tests will be repeated.
The other great club in the Canary Islands, CD Tenerife, carried out the tests this Tuesday and also announced a positive case. The blue and white team has revealed the identity of the footballer: Elliot Gómez. The Tenerife left-handed winger is already serving his quarantine . El Rayo also registered a contagion, like Logroñés. Malaga worries with five.
