Football

Mariano Diaz: Real Madrid star contracts coronavirus ahead of Man City clash

Tuesday, July 28, 2020 at 5:06 PM by Oluwatomiwa Babalola

- Mariano Diaz will miss Real Madrid's trip to Etihad Stadium for the Champions League round of 16-second leg clash against Man City next month

- The 26-year-old tested positive for coronavirus earlier this week

- Diaz has been urged to stay at home for the next 14 days in a bid to limit the spread while recovering from the virus

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Spanish League champions Real Madrid have suffered a major set back ahead of their Champions League clash against Manchester City next month.

Los Blancos confirmed that one of their players Mariano Diaz tested positive for the deadly coronavirus - hence, he will miss the trip to the Etihad in August.

Daily Mail quoting Marca reports that Diaz tested positive for the virus on return from a short break after their triumph over Barcelona and other clubs this season.

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He was said to have missed the club's training session earlier this week as he is already in self-isolation and will hope to recover as soon as possible.

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The La Liga giants will be counting on their form which helped them win the league title when they battle the Premier League side for a spot in the quarterfinals of Europe's elite championship.

Mariano Diaz: Real Madrid star contracts coronavirus ahead of Man City clash — Mariano Diaz after scoring Real Madrid's second goal against Barcelona earlier this year. Photo Credit: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images

As it stands, Pep Guardiola's men have two away goals advantage after claiming a 2-1 win over the Spanish side in the first leg of their round of 16 tie earlier in the year.

A statement from Real reads: "After the COVID-19 tests carried out individually on our first football team yesterday (Monday) by the Real Madrid Medical Services, our player Mariano has given a positive result.

"The player is in perfect health and complying with the sanitary isolation protocol at home."

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Real were forced to carry out the test on their players again after the UK government mandated that travelers from Spain be quarantined for a period of 14 days before being allowed into the country.

This could also raise more concerns for the UK government if additional Los Blancos stars test positive in their next round of testing.

Reports in England claim the authorities decided to remove Spain from the list of countries safe to travel to on Saturday and one day after, they re-imposed travel restrictions on Spain.

This was as a result of concerns that the country was already facing the second wave of the coronavirus.

The UK's chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, led the emergency meeting which had in attendance six senior ministers discussing the relapsing situation of the virus in Spain.

Mariano is far from a key player for Zidane. He has played just seven times for Real this season and has scored one goal.