From Wuhan China, the Coronavirus disease started spreading in December 2019 and eventually spread to other countries of the world. Within the next few months that followed, it became a pandemic and a huge threat to humanity. While the scientific community strives to understand the virus and the pharmaceutical scientists hard at work to find a cure, COVID-19 has been crippling the economy of the world. Virtually everything has been affected from sports to entertainment and what have you. While we all hope that the virus will be contained soon, take a look at the La Liga players who have tested positive for Coronavirus.
Coronavirus Positive La Liga Players
1. Ezequiel Garay
The list of Coronavirus positive La Liga players started with this Argentine central defender. He has been playing for Valencia since 2016 when he joined the side from Zenit Saint Petersburg of the Russian Premier League. Garay later confirmed his status on Instagram, adding that he’s not feeling sick but paying attention to his health.
2. Eliaquim Mangala
Just as it circulated that Garay had contracted the virus, Valencia issued a statement relating that five positive cases of the virus had been detected among members of its first-team players and staff. Eliaquim happened to be one of them; he has been a center back player for the club since 2019. Taking to social media to confirm he tested positive, the former Manchester City player encouraged people to observe the confinement measures to contain the spread of the virus.
While other members of the team who tested positive haven’t disclosed it publicly, Valencia CF offered that they are all in good health and observing the self-isolation measures.
Other La Liga Clubs With Confirmed Cases
Deportivo Alaves
The parent company of the Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava disclosed in a statement on the 16th of March 2020 that a total of 15 people had tested positive for COVID-19. Three out of that number joined the list of Coronavirus positive La Liga players; they are members of Alaves’ first team. Others that tested positive are 12 workers, 7 of whom are members of the coaching staff. Thankfully, all the people involved are in good health and asymptomatic.
The identities of these people have remained unknown but Alavés-Baskonia Group has been doing a lot to raise funds that will aid the fight against Coronavirus. Among other things, its clubs are having a charity auction and the fund raised will be used to purchase medical equipment.
Espanyol de Barcelona
A day after Alavés-Baskonia Group’s statement, Espanyol disclosed that it had detected six cases of the virus among its technical staff and first-team players. Like Alaves, the club didn’t reveal the identities of those involved but specified that they were experiencing mild symptoms and complying with medical recommendations.
After Italy, Spain is the country most bedeviled by the virus. The Spanish football league system has already lost some influential figures to COVID-19, including Lorenzo Sanz and Francisco Garcia. The latter was a 21-year-old manager of Atletico Portada Alta’s youth team and the former, the ex-president of Real Madrid.
See Also: Kyle Walker Biography, Wife, Kids, Net Worth, Coronavirus Controversy
How Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi Are Faring
Apart from the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi are the most popular football players, they are currently based in two of the countries most troubled by COVID-19 – Italy (Serie A) and Spain (La Liga). Given that, it is not surprising that football fans across the globe have been eager to know how the soccer stars are keeping up.
In a nutshell, Cristiano and Messi are negative and doing great. They have both issued a statement to assure fans that they are fine while imploring everyone to do what’s required of them that would help contain the pandemic.
Specifying that he is spending time with his family, Messi asserted that health must come first. The Barcelona forward encouraged people to stay at home and observe the instructions of health organizations.
Cristiano Ronaldo shared a similar message on Instagram. The Juventus forward urged people to follow the World Health Organization’s (WHO) advice on how to handle the situation. He stressed that protecting human life must come above other interests as he commiserates with those who have lost someone to the virus.
Discussion about this post