Ousmane Dembele looks on during the LaLiga match between Sevilla FC and FC Barcelona at Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on December 21, 2021 in Seville, Spain. (Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images)
Three more Barcelona players test positive for Covid-19
Gavi (left) is among the three latest Barcelona players to test positive for Covid-19. (Photo by David S. Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images)
The match between Barcelona and Mallorca is not in jeopardy . . . yet.
Three more Barcelona players have tested positive for Covid-19, the club has announced. Those players included Gavi, Samuel Umtiti and Ousmane Dembélé.
The French forward did not take part in training the day before as he was not feeling well. He was given a PCR test as the Catalan side waited for the results to come back, which came back as positive.
The list is now at seven with these three players joining four others who tested positive prior to the team’s first training session. All seven players are said to be doing fine and quarantining at the moment.
The players affected by the virus could still grow as Sergiño Dest, Neto, Coutinho, Gerard Pique and Ronald Araujo are yet to be tested.
Barcelona have a game on Sunday against Real Mallorca that does not appear to be in jeopardy as things stand. According to ESPN, a LaLiga spokesman told them there is no news regarding a possible postponement. LaLiga rules state a match can only be suspended if a team has five or fewer first team players available.
There is precedent with Granada who dealt with an outbreak and their match against Real Sociedad went ahead. They finished the match with only four senior team players on the pitch.
As it stands, the match is still going to take place, meaning Xavi Hernandez is going to have a selection headache ahead of the game. In addition to the seven players out with Covid-19 and those out injured, Sergio Busquets is suspended.
The new Omicron variant has spread rapidly throughout the world and it was only a matter of time before it hit the sporting world. All the clubs, including Barcelona, can do is keep taking the proper precautions and hope those who do test positive recover without any lasting effects.
