Guardiola Reports There Are New COVID-19 Cases In Manchester City Squad

Josep Guardiola reported that there was a new positive case of COVID-19 in his team. (photo; Twitter.com/@ManCity)

JAKARTA - Manchester City coach, Josep Guardiola reported that there was a new positive case of COVID-19 in his team. The news was conveyed by Guardiola ahead of the crucial match between Manchester City and Chelsea in the 22nd week of the 2021/2022 Premier League.

Quoted from AFP, Guardiola confirmed this problem on Friday, January 14 afternoon local time. He said there was a new victim but could not reveal his identity.

"We have some new (COVID-19) cases but they want privacy. So I can't tell them," Guardiola was quoted as saying by AFP.

On the same occasion, Guardiola also revealed the latest situation at his club. The coach said there will be several players who have been confirmed to participate in the match against Chelsea. While some others can not contribute.

"Several players came in, but there were other players who were positive again. After two negative ones, they came back. If they don't (negative), they don't (will play)," he said.

This situation was actually experienced by Manchester City last week. At that time, The Citizens were hit by a wave of COVID-19 which also made their coach, Pep Guardiola, tested positive ahead of the FA Cup against Swindon Town.

Apart from Pep Guardiola, assistant coach Juanma Lillo has also been exposed to COVID-19. At that moment, all players and officials who were confirmed positive were immediately isolated in the Man City bubble.

In addition, Man City also briefly released that seven of their main players were forced to undergo isolation because they were also exposed to COVID-19.

Long before that, in mid-December 2021, Pep Guardiola was also briefly concerned with COVID-19 after attending the press conference of Sergio Aguero, who retired in Barcelona. However, the Spanish coach's last test result was negative and he was finally allowed to accompany the team against Newcastle United.

Regardless of the Manchester City situation which is again plagued with anxiety due to the threat of COVID-19, they must still be prepared to perform optimally. Because the match against Chelsea, which will be held on Saturday, January 15 at 19.30 western Indonesia time, is predicted to be hot like a final, because it brings together the clubs ranked first and second in the Premier League standings this season.