Fc Barcelona has been given the green light to resume first team training on friday as all the players who were tested for COVID-19 on Wednesday came back with negative results.
The catalans asked all players and staff to report on Wednesday to the club’s training facility for immediate testing. The only member of the first team squad who was not tested for Covid-19 was injured winger Ousmane Dembele, who it is understood will be checked on Monday.
No date at the moment has been set to resume professional football in Spain but LA Liga clubs can now resume work and training with players either individually or in small groups. The return to training is the beginning of a four-phase process for La Liga to return to action with games to be played behind closed doors for the time being.
“This crisis has had a profound impact on all of us. The return of football is a sign that society is progressing towards the new normal. It will also bring back an element of life that people in Spain and around the world know and love,” said Javier Tebas, the president of La Liga.
It however remains unclear if football would ever return again this campaign as there are fears that resumption could increase the situation in the country. Over 25000 people in Spain have died of the virus or its complications over the past 4 months
Barcelona manager Quique Setien has earlier stressed that he wouldn’t approve for the season to be scrapped and the catalans handed the trophy despite the fact that his side hold a 2 point advantage over Real Madrid in the title race up to the point where the season was paused due to the pandemic
He told Sport : “I wouldn’t like to win the title in this way. It’s common sense that the league table stays as it is [if the season cannot be concluded], however the reality is that everyone would like to finish the season and win it all playing all the games, the same as the Champions League .”
