Sergino Dest, Philippe Coutinho and Abde Ezzalzouli are the latest players to contract COVID-19, they are self-isolating at home and the team said they were “in good health”.
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FC Barcelona’s COVID-19 situation worsened as the number of positive cases in the squad rose to 10 on Thursday, potentially jeopardizing the team’s return to action after Spain’s winter break for the La Liga fixture against Mallorca on Sunday. Sergino Dest, Philippe Coutinho and Abde Ezzalzouli are the latest players to contract COVID-19, Barcelona said. They are self-isolating at home and the team said they were “in good health”.
The club already announced this week that Ousmane Dembele, Samuel Umtiti, Gavi, Jordi Alba, Alejandro Balde, Clement Lenglet and Dani Alves had tested positive and were isolating. Meanwhile the Catalan club is also depleted by injuries going into Sunday’s game at Iberostar stadium.
Real Madrid said Wednesday that four players- Vinicius Jr., Thibaut Courtois, Federico Valverde and Eduardo Camavinga- tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of Sunday’s game against Getafe.
During the break, Dest and Vinicius had posted photos on Instagram of their respective trips to Miami. They included court-side photos at a Miami Heat basketball game and pictures with star Jimmy Butler. Vinicius’ account included one of him with Heat guard Tyler Herro. They all wore masks in the Photos.
On Wednesday, the Heat was unable to meet the NBA’s requirement of right available players for the game against San Antonio, leading to it being postponed. Miami had 12 players unavailable due to injuries and positive virus tests.
Barcelona are currently languishing at the 7th spot in the La Liga points table with 28 points from 18 games. Xavi Hernandez’ side ended the year with a fighting 1-1 draw against second-placed Sevilla before the winter break.
? #Celebrate2022withLaLiga ?#ValenciaEspanyol brings the curtain down on 2021, with nine more matches on Sunday and Monday to celebate the new year! ?#LaLigaSantander pic.twitter.com/g40pIUw1KT
— LaLiga English (@LaLigaEN) December 31, 2021
Real Madrid are comfortably placed on top with 46 points from 19 games. Los Blancos defeated Athletic Bilbao 2-1 in their last match to register their 8th win in 9 league games. Second-placed Sevilla are 12 points behind the leaders with a game in hand.
