Real Madrid: Luka Jovic, self-isolating at home under coronavirus protocol
According to 'Jugones' and confirmed by AS, the player was in contact with a friend who tested positive for Covid-19. Jovic tested negative but will miss the Alavés game.
Luka Jovic has been ordered to self-isolate at his home in Madrid in case he has been infected with coronavirus, according to Jugones and which can be confirmed by AS. The striker was in contact with a friend who tested positive for Covid-19, which is why the club were quick to place him in quarantine - the standard protocol in such situations.
Diario AS can corroborate Jugones' report - a friend of Jovic's arrived in Madrid on a flight from Belgrade at midday on Monday. While Zidane had initially planned to prohibit players from receiving visitors, many were desperate to see loved ones who they have not been able to see for four months - especially Madrid's foreign players and the club relented.
Jovic ruled out of Friday game against Alavés
Madrid request that all guests who come to visit their players undergo a coronavirus test and Jovic's friend tested positive, which is why the player has been put into confinement. Seeing as they was no training session on Monday morning, Jovic was tested in the afternoon and the results came back negative. Despite that, club protocol obliges him to remain at home. He will miss Friday's game against Alavés at the Alfredo di Stéfano and could sit out more games, depending on how his situation develops. It is the only safeguard the club has in place to ensure that no other members of the squad are infected.
Madrid's return to activity has been slightly strained for Jovic. Just a few days after landing in Madrid after spending the lockdown in confinement back home in Serbia, where he was accused of flouting quarantine rules, he injured his foot. A fractured calcaneus, the heel bone in his right foot, kept him sidelined for nearly two months. And while he was still recovering, he was pictured attending a barbecue and failing to comply with social distancing regulations - an incident which did not go down well at all at the club.
He reappeared as a late sub in Sunday's game against Athletic, but this latest incident is another setback in his development. During his first season at Real Madrid, Jovic, a 60 million euro signing, has scored two goals, delivered two assists 2 in 25 appearances, totalling 770 minutes of playing time.