The Christmas break hasn’t been kind to Ligue Un giants, Paris Saint-Germain.
Ahead of their Coupe de France tie against Vannes on Monday, Mauricio Pochettino’s side have been hit by the news that four of their players have tested positive for Covid-19.
By far the most important is Lionel Messi, who flew home to Argentina to be with his family.
According to a statement on the official PSG website, he’s joined by Juan Bernat, Sergio Rico and Nathan Bitumazala, who will all now have to isolate for the required period as dictated by coronavirus protocols.
Whilst it won’t stop the match on Monday being played, it does, once again, highlight how easily the virus can spread, if players move around in circles different to usual during this pandemic.
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A pandemic that shows no signs of slowing down, some might suggest because of the blanket refusal by anti-vaxxers to abide by the various government guidelines.
PSG are far from being the hardest hit either.
According to ESPN, Barcelona have 10 players missing for Sunday night’s trip to Mallorca after contracting Covid.
Sergino Dest, Abde Ezzalzouli, Philippe Coutinho Ousmane Dembele, Samuel Umtiti, Gavi, Alejandro Balde, Jordi Alba, Dani Alves and Clement Lenglet all remain in isolation.
The Catalans only have nine first team players available for the match as Sergio Busquets is suspended, new signing, Ferran Torres, is unavailable and Ansu Fati, Memphis Depay, Pedri, Sergi Roberto and Martin Braithwaite remain on the injury list.