Another blow for La Roja.
A second Spanish player, defender Diego Llorente, tested positive for Covid-19, two days after selection captain Sergio Busquets, the Spanish Federation (RFEF) announced on Tuesday evening.
"The RFEF regrets to announce that the central defender Diego Llorente is positive at the end of the last PCR tests carried out this (Tuesday) morning at the training center of the national team in Las Rozas", near Madrid, specifies the federation in a press release.
La "Roja" is due to play its first Euro match (June 11 - July 11) on Monday in Seville against Sweden, which also announced two positive cases of Covid-19 among its players on Tuesday, including the nugget Dejan Kulusevski.
Like Busquets, the RFEF specified that Diego Llorente "will abandon the national selection tonight (from Tuesday to Wednesday) in a medical vehicle, in compliance with health protocols".
Six reservists called in as a precaution
After the positive case of Busquets, the first wave of tests, carried out on Monday, had been a little breath of fresh air for the “Roja”, since all the members of the selection were tested negative, according to a press release from the RFEF . But this new positive case is a big blow to the head of the "Roja", a few hours after the Spanish selection made up of U21 hopefuls beat Lithuania 4-0 in a friendly in Leganés, near Madrid, Tuesday evening. A meeting which was initially to be disputed by the team of Spain A, in isolation after the positive case of Busquets.
Monday and Tuesday, six reservists were called by Luis Enrique to train in parallel with the selection in order to compensate for possible new positive cases: this is Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, world champion 2 010 Raul Albiol (Villarreal), Leeds striker Rodrigo Moreno and midfielders Pablo Fornals (West Ham), Carlos Soler (Valencia) and Brais Méndez (Celta Vigo).
These six players placed in a "parallel bubble" will continue to train on Wednesday under the orders of Luis Enrique at the Spanish base camp in Las Rozas (northwest suburb of Madrid), the RFEF said in its press release.
Spain's Sports Minister said on Tuesday that players were due for vaccination on Wednesday. Spain face Sweden in Sevilla on June 14, for their first Group E match, which also includes Slovakia and Poland.