Two coronavirus cases caught RB Leipzig's opponent Atlético Madrid cold. They feared further positive tests and even a cancellation of the premier class duel. New investigations gave the all-clear. RB coach Nagelsmann tried to keep the focus.
Lisbon (dpa) - Julian Nagelsmann just didn't want to be infected by the short but violent corona excitement at Atlético Madrid.
In the team quarters in sunny Estoril, the coach of Bundesliga soccer club RB Leipzig was unimpressed by speculations about a possible postponement or even cancellation of the premier class duel on Thursday (9 p.m. / Sky). "I noticed it, but didn't let it get very close to me. We have the focus on ourselves," said the 33-year-old before the most important game of his career.
Shortly before the quarter-finals of the Champions League, two coronavirus cases caused great unrest at Atlético. While the Saxons were able to continue their preparation for the game in the Éstadio José Alavalade in Lisbon on the Atlantic beach, the top Spanish club was stuck in Madrid for the first time. It wasn't until the afternoon that the all-clear came: A necessary second series of tests did not result in any further corona cases among players and supervisors.
Nagelsmann's statement, made quite soberly before, thus turned out to be correct. "There are clear UEFA protocols on what to do in such cases. We go into the week as normal and prepare for Thursday's game. If two cases remain, it will not have much impact," said the RB -Coach. UEFA had previously made it clear that it did not consider any serious consequences necessary. "The game should be played as planned," said the European Football Union on request.
There is no longer any doubt about this, subject to the mandatory final tests up to 24 hours before kick-off. But at least at Atlético on Monday there was no talk of normal preparation. Instead of starting the trip to Lisbon in the evening, the crowd of over 90 people got stuck in Madrid and waited anxiously for the results of the short-term test series.
It was only when the good news came in the afternoon that coach Diego Simeone was able to switch back to Lisbon mode. The charter flight for Tuesday was announced immediately. When Atlético could hold the first training session on the Benfica campus in Seixal, however, it was still unclear. In any case, striker Angel Correa and defender Sime Vrsaljko will not be there, who, according to the club, show no symptoms, but had to go into quarantine because of the positive tests in Madrid. In terms of sport, Atlético can get over the failure of the duo.
Despite the now apparently mild process, the Atlético case made the great risks of the blitz tournament for the handle pot clear. Bayern Munich coach Hansi Flick had already warned of the positive cases at Madrid. "We really have to be careful," he told the German press agency in a conversation before the current situation with Leipzig's opponents became known. The German record champions are preparing for their quarter-finals against FC Barcelona on Friday (9 p.m. / Sky) in the Algarve.
According to the regulations, a bye for the semi-finals would have been possible for Leipzig had Atlético actually not been able to compete. In principle, however, UEFA would also have the option of postponing games in acute corona cases. However, this would not be possible without impairing the overall schedule, which is already tightly timed. After the quarter-finals from August 12th to 15th, it will take place on August 18th and 19th. August continued with the semi-finals. The final is scheduled for August 23rd.
Atlético could have played against Leipzig a day or two later, but the winner of the game would have even less regeneration time than the semi-final opponent. Because the first quarter-finals between Paris Saint-Germain and Atalanta Bergamo will take place on Wednesday.
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Association announcement
UEFA minutes of resumption of play
Champions League regulations
Champions League schedule
Information RB Leipzig on the Champions League tournament
