BARCELONA: Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele, defender Samuel Umtiti and midfielder Gavi have tested positive for Covid-19, the Spanish club said Wednesday, bringing to six the number of infected first team players. “The players are in good health and self-isolating at home. The Club has reported the cases to the relevant authorities”, it said in a … Read more
PARIS: Barcelona’s Spanish international left-back Jordi Alba has tested positive for Covid, the club confirmed on Tuesday. “Jordi Alba has tested positive for COVID-19, ruling him out of Tuesday afternoon’s training session,” the La Liga club said in a statement. Read More: Villa boss Gerrard tests positive for Covid-19 “The player is in good health … Read more
LONDON: Aston Villa head coach Steven Gerrard will miss the club’s next two Premier League games after testing positive for Covid-19, the club announced on Saturday. “Aston Villa can confirm Head Coach Steven Gerrard will be unable to attend our next two Premier League matches with Chelsea and Leeds United as he will be isolating … Read more
LONDON: Crystal Palace’s bid to have their Boxing Day trip to Tottenham postponed due to a coronavirus outbreak has been turned down by the Premier League despite manager Patrick Vieira testing positive. Three games scheduled for the traditional round of matches on December 26 have already been called off due to squads decimated by Covid-19 … Read more
LONDON: Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick has suggested abolishing the League Cup in a bid to ease fixture congestion in English football. The schedule, traditionally at its busiest over the Christmas and New Year period, has come under severe strain from the impact of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, with several Premier League … Read more
LONDON: Burnley’s match at home to Everton on December 26 has become the latest Premier League fixture to be postponed due to a coronavirus outbreak, it was announced Friday. Covid-19 cases within the Everton camp had seen the Merseysiders request a postponement on Thursday. But that initial plea was rejected despite Everton manager Rafael Benitez … Read more
MANCHESTER: Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick has almost a full squad to choose from for Monday’s Premier League clash at Newcastle after a Covid-19 outbreak saw their last two matches postponed. Only the injured Paul Pogba is unavailable to the interim manager for the Red Devils first game in 16 days. United’s games against Brentford … Read more
LONDON: Liverpool’s clash with Leeds and Watford’s trip to Wolves, scheduled for December 26, became the latest Premier League games to be postponed due to coronavirus outbreaks on Thursday. A total of 12 matches have now been called off in the past two weeks as Britain battles record numbers of positive Covid cases due to … Read more
MILAN: Juventus took advantage of Atalanta’s goalless draw at Genoa with a 2-0 win over Cagliari which inched them closer to Serie A’s Champions League places, as Salernitana’s trip to Udinese became the season’s first coronavirus-related casualty. Moise Kean’s header five minutes before the break and Federico Bernardeschi’s precision finish after a break-away late on … Read more
LONDON: Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson fears player welfare is too low down the list of football’s priorities as the English game continues to grapple with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Premier League announced on Monday its intention to continue with the scheduled matches over the traditionally busy Christmas and New Year period, despite … Read more
LONDON: Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard said fear of Covid-19 is so heightened that one of his players was reluctant to get out of his car. An outbreak at Villa saw their match against Burnley last Saturday postponed at short notice, with Gerrard warning Wednesday that it will be a “nightmare” if the Midlands club … Read more
PARIS: Two Paris Saint-Germain players have tested positive for Covid-19 and a third is in isolation, the club said Wednesday a few hours before a Ligue 1 match at Lorient. They are one of several Ligue 1 clubs to reveal positive tests, though not at the same level as England, where a raft of matches … Read more
ROME: Salernitana cast doubt on Tuesday’s Serie A game at Udinese when they announced Covid-19 cases had prevented their squad leaving as planned for northeastern Italy. The Salerno club said they had heeded the advice of local health officials and had informed the Italian league. Read More: Police arrest three Parisian fans for cup violence … Read more
BORDEAUX: Bordeaux said Tuesday that three more players had returned positive cases of Covid-19 taking the total to five who will be out Wednesday against Lille in Ligue 1. Norwegian defender Stian Gregersen, Malian midfielder Issouf Sissokho and striker Sekou Mara tested positive, coach Vladimir Petkovic said. They joined Remi Oudin and Dilane Bakwa who … Read more
MANCHESTER: Premier League chiefs will meet on Monday to discuss a potential festive “firebreaker” as a result of the escalating coronavirus crisis, with managers voicing fears over player safety and fairness. Just four of the scheduled 10 games took place this weekend due to a number of call-offs caused by outbreaks that left clubs unable … Read more
LONDON: Covid-hit Chelsea were held to a goalless draw by Wolves on Sunday after the Premier League rejected their request to postpone the game as Manchester City put struggling Newcastle to the sword. Just four games were left on the schedule this weekend out of the original 10 as Britain’s worsening coronavirus crisis took its … Read more
PARIS: Last season’s beaten finalists Chelsea were sent packing from the Women’s Champions League on Thursday after a 4-0 defeat away to Wolfsburg in Germany in a dramatic final round of group games. Captain Svenja Huth and Tabea Wassmuth, the competition’s leading scorer, both scored twice as the Germans claimed the comprehensive win they needed … Read more
LONDON: The Premier League on Thursday postponed six more matches due to the wave of coronavirus infections hitting Britain, but said it intended to “continue its current fixture schedule where safely possible” as calls for a circuit break intensified. Leicester’s scheduled match against Tottenham was postponed just hours before kick-off on Thursday. Five more games … Read more
MILAN: Inter Milan will attempt to pull clear of AC Milan as they travel to struggling Salernitana in Serie A this weekend while their title rivals host a Napoli smarting from back-to-back defeats. Champions Inter are one point ahead of Milan who on Sunday face a tricky tie against fourth-placed Napoli, just four points off … Read more
MADRID: Sevilla may be Real Madrid’s most likely challengers in La Liga this season and they have a chance to prove it on Saturday when they face the defending champions Atletico Madrid. Atletico’s defeat last weekend in the Madrid derby leaves them 13 points off the top but Sevilla in second are at least slightly … Read more
LONDON: Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta on Friday called for more clarity from the Premier League after a glut of coronavirus postponements, saying it was vital to maintain the fairness of the competition. Only five games of the previously scheduled 10 are due to take place on Saturday and Sunday, taking the total number of postponed … Read more
