Football vs Coronavirus

“Coronavirus has been tested positive with Zlatan Ibrahimovic… Our thoughts with the virus at this point of time.” No, this is not a typographical error. You read it right. This headline was trending on every other major news outlet as Swedish Footballing icon Zlatan Ibrahimovic tested positive with the COVID-19 pandemic.

With no cure in sight, the global pandemic has disrupted the entirety of the planet earth. It is no news that football was one of the biggest industries to have been affected by the deadly virus as the beautiful game was suspended for almost five months. When it was resumed back in late June, it somehow lost it’s charm with no spectators in the stands to cheer their hearts out.

Thanks to technological advances and fans compromising, football is back. Yes, the games are still behind closed doors but the excitement seems to have returned back to normal. But, Coronavirus doesn’t seem to slow down a bit.

Hundreds of football players everyday are tested positive with the virus. This has it’s impacts not only on the personal and professional lives of the players, but also on the organization they play for. Staff and Squads have to be quarantined, medical procedures have to be implemented with immediate effect but most importantly, it’s the performances that are affected with the Football Associations conducting games as planned.

As the fans criticize their clubs for failed opportunities or routs by oppositions, will Coronavirus result in changing of club hierarchies in the top European Leagues? Will high performance prioritized over health?

Paulo Dybala — A four timer in the Coronavirus battle

Juventus forward Paulo Dybala was one of the first football players to have contracted the deadly virus in March. It was a shocking news for the football fraternity, as nobody was aware that the virus could become so locally contractual in the coming months.

The Argentine International took to Twitter to announce that he and his partner both were tested positive for COVID-19 and despite being ill for a few days, both of them were in a perfectly healthy condition. Little did Dybala know that his battle with the virus would last more than 2 months.

Dybala tested positive four times in six weeks as Juventus grew increasingly cautious about his health with the Turin-based club actively in contact with the South American starlet on a daily basis.

On 6th of May 2020, the Serie A Champions pulled a presser to announce that the most talked about battle of Dybala and Coronavirus had ended with the attacking player testing negative just in time for football to begin.

Pep Guardiola’s sad news & Mikel Arteta follows the fate

Though Pep Guardiola might not be a football player now, the legendary coach might just be more famous and reputed in the sport than 90% of the active football professionals. But his material and immaterial riches that he gained through the beautiful game were unable to save the life of his mother from the deadly virus.

Guardiola lost his mother, Dolors Sala, as the 82-year-old lost her life after contracting the virus in April 2020. Manchester City released an official statement regarding the same as they grieved with millions of fans worldwide.

In a mere coincidence or a circle of destiny, Pep Guardiola’s assistant coach at Manchester City (now manager of Arsenal) Mikel Arteta too contracted the virus in the month of May. The Spanish coach reportedly went on record to reveal that ‘everything happened very fast’ and that his diagnosis must have saved a lot of lives at the Emirates. This was in-line with the fact that Arteta comes in contact with hundreds of staff members at Arsenal’s training facilities.

A Chelsea Blue faced the Coronavirus Blues

While Dybala was the first high profile Coronavirus positive player to come out publicly, it was Chelsea’s Callum Hudson-Odoi who made headlines in London, England around mid-March. With the English Premier League being the most watched league on the entire planet, this came as a shock to all neutral fans worldwide.

The teenager who plays as a winger at Chelsea Football Club, released a video in association with the club, in which he addressed his health concerns, thanking all the fans and supporters for the best wishes as he moved towards the road to recovery.

Chelsea had to immediately shut down their training facilities for quite some time after the incident. But Hudson-Odoi was quick to recover from COVID-19 and has even featured for the Blues in the Premier League and the English League Cup recently.

Paris-Positive for the French Champions

Ligue 1 Champions and probably the biggest football team in France, Paris Saint-Germain became a hub of Coronavirus in early September this year. Some of football’s biggest names were tested positive for Coronavirus which included the likes of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Angel Di Maria.

This came as a huge shock to all the fans worldwide. While Neymar has been a role model to billions of young footballers and fans worldwide, Mbappe is reckoned to be the future of world football with the Frenchman winning the World Cup before he even turned 20.

As Neymar was not on International duty, the Brazilian footballer quarantined himself at home. Meanwhile Mbappe had to be withdrawn from the French UEFA Nations League squad as the rest of the World Champions prepared to face Croatia in the annual European tournament.

While Neymar has been still struggling with fitness issues, Mbappe has been up and running after his recovery and has even played for Paris Saint-Germain in the recent Ligue 1 games in late September.

Ilkay Gundogan, Aymeric Laporte and Manchester City’s woes

German midfielder Ilkay Gundogan and Spanish defender Aymeric Laporte, both of whom are first team players for Premier League club Manchester City tested positive for Coronavirus just before the beginning of this season. While Laporte’s illness was kept under covers for a long time as it happened before the season started, Gundogan had to be retracted from training in the buildup to City’s first game away at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

This has resulted in an extreme destabilization in the blue half of Manchester. Pep Guardiola had a trophy-less season after a long time last year as City failed to capitalize on even a single achievement. With that being said, the ruling out of their superstars due to the Coronavirus has been an ill-fated occurring that must be giving nightmares to the club management.

As of yet, there have been no developments regarding the status of Gundogan or Laporte and this only means that it might take weeks for them to get back to training and a month to get back to the first team.

Coronavirus spurs Tottenham ahead in the Carabao Cup

The most heart-breaking and recent case of Coronavirus in football was when Tottenham Hotspur were awarded an automatic bye to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup as their third-round counterparts Leyton Orient couldn’t field a squad due to high number of Coronavirus positive cases amongst squad members and staff personnel. Incredible.

The League Cup is one of those tournaments that clubs like Leyton Orient look forward to, every year. It’s their chance to play the England’s elite and challenge their limits. With the game being called off, Orient are disqualified without having played a minute on-field.

The Premier League clubs have been paying for the Coronavirus tests of their bottom-tier counterparts before their League Cup meetings. This is being done to extend support to the cruel financial downside of the pandemic on the smaller level clubs.

Coronavirus is not going to slow down until a cure is found. Until then, every football player who takes to the field for the entertainment of fans worldwide is nothing but a hero himself. Fortunately, there haven’t been lives lost in top tier football due to the virus as of yet. But with rising cases, every new day is a dangerous occasion. But as they say, the show must go on. And so it shall.