MADRID — Real Madrid's Thibaut Courtois, Federico Valverde, Eduardo Camavinga and Vinicius Jr have tested positive for Covid-19, the club said in a statement on Wednesday.
LaLiga has been on a short winter break since Real's last match on Dec. 22 and the pacesetters are back in action on Jan. 2 when they travel to Getafe in LaLiga.
Official Announcement.#RealMadrid
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) December 29, 2021
Carlo Ancelotti's side has 46 points from 19 games — eight points ahead of second-placed Sevilla, which has a match in hand.
Several Real players tested positive for coronavirus earlier this month including Luka Modric, Rodrygo, Marco Asensio, Gareth Bale, Marcelo, Andriy Lunin, Isco and David Alaba.
Rival Barcelona are also dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak in its squad with Ousmane Dembele, Samuel Umtiti and Gavi set to miss Sunday's trip to Real Mallorca.
Clement Lenglet, Dani Alves, Jordi Alba and Alejandro Balde also returned positive Covid tests this week.
LATEST NEWS | The players O. Dembélé, Umtiti, and Gavi have tested positive for Covid-19 following PCR tests administered to the team. The players are in good health and are in isolation at their homes. The Club has informed the relevant authorities. pic.twitter.com/zLC6wxDHvP
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) December 29, 2021
Sevilla has three positives in their squad but said they were asymptomatic and isolating at home. Two players had already tested positive during the Christmas holidays, the club added.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
