Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti could be absent for their trip to Stamford Bridge for Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final first-leg match against Chelsea, according to Spanish outlet AS.
The Italian manager tested for Covid-19 last Wednesday and had to miss out on his team’s 2-1 over Celta Vigo on Saturday.
Instead, his son Davide was in charge in the dugout alongside the other assistant coaches.
The former Chelsea manager is, thankfully, fine despite experiencing slight discomfort during the first days, AS claims.
However, he reportedly remains positive for Covid-19 based on a PCR test on Sunday.
The report mentions that Ancelotti will undergo another test on Monday, but as it stands, it remains unclear whether he will be able to travel to London.
This could be a big blow for Real Madrid.
According to another report from Marca, Ancelotti still picked the starting line-up on Saturday, but Davide and assistant coaches made the decisions during the match.
In terms of the squad, Real Madrid’s official website also confirmed that all members of their squad took part in Sunday’s training except for Luka Jovic, who is still recovering from an injury.
On the other hand, his Chelsea squad was “mentally tired” during the shock defeat to Brentford, according to Tuchel.
A few players, such as Jorginho, Edouard Mendy, and Christian Pulisic, also had a very demanding international break as they still had to compete in the World Cup qualifier with their respective national team.
Although, on a positive note, Reece James is finally back from a muscular injury, while Trevoh Chalobah’s absence was purely team selection, rather than fitness-related issues.
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