Setback for Real Madrid two hours from playing their match on the 14th round of the Euroleague against Alba Berlin. The whites will not be able to count on one of their bases, Thomas Heurtel, or their coach, Pablo Laso, having both tested positive for coronavirus in the last tests carried out on the squad. At the moment no more cases have been reported in the white team. The Madrid statement, concise as usual, only refers to the two of them:
“Real Madrid CF reports that our coach Pablo Laso and our player Thomas Heurtel have tested positive for COVID-19.”
In the full rise of the contagion curve in Spain (and throughout Europe) it is not uncommon for cases such as those of Heurtel and Laso to appear. The data from a few minutes ago in our country is 412 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, 31 points more than yesterday. In the last 24 hours, 26,136 infections and 58 deaths have been reported. The world of basketball, of course, is no stranger to this situation.
Without leaving Spain, this weekend Valencia could not play their league match against Obradoiro due to having several positives between players and coaching staff, and they will not play the match they were supposed to play tomorrow against Bursasport in the Eurocup either. And in the NBA, the Chicago Bulls will have to play the next games with 8 players, since the rest of the squad is under the league’s sanitation protocols.