MADRID • Atletico Madrid yesterday conducted their final training session ahead of their trip to the Champions League "Final Eight" tournament in Lisbon after the rest of their squad tested negative for Covid-19, the club said in a statement.
The club's morning session was postponed and their plans to travel to the Portuguese capital were initially put on hold after two of their players tested positive for the virus on Sunday.
But the Spanish La Liga club said Diego Simeone's side would fly to Portugal today without Argentina forward Angel Correa and injured Croatia defender Sime Vrsaljko.
Academy players Alex dos Santos, Manu Sanchez, Riquelme and Toni Moya have been called up as replacements.
The club added: "The first team and members of the coaching staff underwent new tests yesterday, the result of which has been negative in all of them, after the appearance of two positive cases in the tests carried out on Saturday."
The pair, who are asymptomatic, are currently self-isolating at home after testing positive for the virus.
While Vrsaljko had already been ruled out of Thursday's quarter-final clash with German Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig, the loss of Correa will be a blow.
He has been ever-present for Atletico, making 22 top-flight starts last season and a further five in the Champions League, with six goals in all competitions.
There had been fears that the rest of the squad were exposed to the virus, which would have put their last-eight clash at risk, but they can now travel safely.
Simeone's men, however, will face another round of Covid-19 testing tomorrow and the results have to be in six hours before the start of the match with Leipzig.
The news that Atletico players had been infected by Covid-19 sent shockwaves through their fan base, although it also prompted many supporters to leave abusive messages on Thomas Lemar's social media pages.
The France forward has been written off as a flop since his €70 million (S$113 million) move from Monaco in 2018, drawing the ire of many for his ineffectual displays.
Among the jokes that were making the rounds online were ones wishing that it was Lemar who caught the virus, leading compatriot Jules Kounde to lash out at the trolling.
The Sevilla defender tweeted: "I'm seeing messages hoping it's Thomas who has Covid. You're truly shameful. Let's have some respect when we're talking about human life. This isn't a joke."
Should Atletico get past Leipzig, they will meet either French Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain or Italy's Atalanta in the last four. Atletico have never won the Champions League, losing in the 1974, 2014 and 2016 finals.
REUTERS
