Messi, Hazard lead way as Barca, Madrid stars return for medical tests
Madrid, Thursday
Lionel Messi and Eden Hazard were among the big names who donned protective masks and gloves on their return to training on Wednesday.
Players from Barcelona and Real Madrid were pictured arriving for medicals after almost two months without a game due to the coronavirus crisis.
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But with LaLiga ramping up their plans to resume the season next month, stars from both clubs were allowed to finally get back to their respective training bases.
Antoine Griezmann, Thibaut Courtois and Luis Suarez were also seen wearing gloves and masks on their arrival, with Barca sharing a picture of Sergi Roberto undergoing his medical to their Instagram account.
LaLiga officials gave the Catalan giants the green light to conduct the tests after an inspection of the club’s facilities on Tuesday.
Frenkie de Jong, Arturo Vidal and Ansu Fati were also back at the Ciutat Esportiva training base in protective gear, while Real shared an image of manager Zinedine Zidane and captain Sergio Ramos in gloves and masks in front of the Bernabeu.
In a statement on their website, Los Blancos revealed that their players had arrived at the club’s base throughout the morning, with each member of Zidane’s squad given a few minutes to chat with the boss from a safe distance.
Social distancing guidelines will be enforced at all LaLiga training grounds, with Barca and Real Madrid players both undergoing coronavirus tests on Wednesday morning.
Spanish football is anticipating at least 30 cases of coronavirus among its players, but will not allow professionals testing positive to derail its operation to restart the season in the middle of June.
LaLiga is prepared for a number of players testing positive but they say only players who test positive will be quarantined and the four phases of testing, solitary training, group training, and full-squad training will go ahead.
Some players have expressed concerns over the safety of their return to action and Eibar’s squad issued a statement on Tuesday saying they feared catching the virus while playing and passing it on to loved ones.
