Neuer, Messi, Klopp: Corona worries are growing in professional football

Created: 01/02/2022Updated: 01/02/2022, 3:31 PM

Sick of Covid-19: Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

© Jan Woitas / dpa-Zentralbild / dpa / archive image

Bayern have to postpone the start of training due to several corona cases.

Including captain Manuel Neuer.

Prominent names are also caught in other top leagues.

Berlin - because of happy new year!

A few days before the start of the second half of the season in the Bundesliga, concerns about Corona are again massively pushing the sporting headlines into the background.

The German record and winter champion FC Bayern Munich reported five positive cases about Maldives vacationer Manuel Neuer at the start of 2022.

The second division clubs Werder Bremen and Fortuna Düsseldorf canceled their planned training camps in Spain at short notice.

Lionel Messi tested positive at the top French club Paris Saint-Germain.

Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp missed the top game at Thomas Tuchels FC Chelsea after a corona suspicion.

Tested positive for Corona: Lionel Messi.

© Christophe Ena / AP / dpa / archive image

Hardly any club was spared reports of infections, quarantine, symptoms, and vaccination status.

The clubs from the first Bundesliga reported at least 25 players who tested positive for Corona for the period after Christmas and around the turn of the year.

Klopp in isolation

The picture in the other top European leagues is very similar: In the Premier League, the German coach Klopp went into isolation because of suspicion of a positive corona test result with mild symptoms. At PSG, in addition to the Argentine superstar Messi, ex-Bayern Munich professional Juan Bernat also tested positive. They went into isolation just like the Italian European champion Giorgio Chiellini at the record champions there, Juventus Turin.

AS Monaco reported not only the separation from coach Niko Kovac, but also a total of seven corona cases within the team.

In Spain, Barcelona coach Xavi Hernández railed against "distortion of competition" and called it "crazy" that the game at RCD Mallorca was not rescheduled, although Barça are missing ten professionals due to corona infection and up to eight more due to injuries or bans have to watch.

The preparation for the Africa Cup is also affected by Corona.

A week before the scheduled start, a test match between defending champions Algeria and Gambia in Doha was canceled - because Gambia 16 players were not available and no goalkeeper was ready to play.

Other teams such as Cameroon had previously also reported corona cases within their squad.

Are game cancellations threatened?

After all, the vaccinated Bayern captain Neuer reported via Instagram: "I'm doing pretty well so far, luckily I only have mild symptoms." And yet questions arise again and concerns are growing: Is the start of the second half of the season in the Bundesliga at risk?

Do games have to be canceled here - as in England, for example?

How long are infected professionals absent?

Neuer and the other infected Kingsley Coman, Corentin Tolisso, Omar Richards and Julian Nagelmann's assistant trainer Dino Toppmöller have to go into quarantine.

The local health department decides on the duration - not only in this case.

From a medical point of view, experts recommend a two-week break after a Covid 19 illness in order to avoid risks from training too early as possible.

There are clear regulations for gaming operations.

As long as a club has 15 authorized players (including a goalkeeper), the German Football League says there is no reason to cancel a match.

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Nevertheless, what Klopp last said: "It's not that cool at the moment." Result is waiting. 18 games have already been canceled in the Premier League in the past three weeks due to corona. So it somehow fit into the picture of this first weekend in the new year that ex-President Uli Hoeneß made one of the most noticed headlines when he described himself as a "total fan". However, he did not mean his Bavarians, but the new Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD).

“As long as he was not in office, I had my problems with him.

I found that he knows everything better.

Now I'm a total fan of Karl Lauterbach, because I have the feeling that he understands a lot about the matter and is a doer, ”said Hoeneß (69) in an interview with the German press agency.

The 58-year-old Lauterbach has to manage the corona measures in the new German traffic light government.

dpa