Atletico confirm Angel Correa and Sime Vrsaljko Covid-19 cases, rest of squad head to Lisbon Tuesday

Atletico were due to travel to the Portuguese capital on Monday, but an Atletico spokesman said all plans had been put on hold until they learned the results of the latest tests players and staff underwent on Monday.

The club, who are due to play RB Leipzig in a quarter-final clash on Thursday, announced on Sunday that two members of the squad had tested positive for the virus following tests on Saturday, and revealed a day later it was Correa and Vrsaljko who came back positive.

A statement said: "The first team will return to training on Monday evening without Ángel Correa, who is asymptomatic and self-isolating at home, and Sime Vrsaljko, who was recovering from an injury and not training with the group.

"The Croat is also asymptomatic and will remain at home by decision of the medical services, although his case is considered to be resolved by the health authorities, having generated antibodies (IgG) several months ago. The doctors will monitor both players as per the health protocol.

Atletico did not register any positive cases for the virus when La Liga re-started in June after a three-month hiatus due to the pandemic as the top-flight was successfully completed without any major incidents.

But mass positive tests at Madrid side Fuenlabrada last month threw the finale of the second division season into chaos, while cases across the country have continued to rise, with 1,895 cases being reported by the health ministry last Friday.

And we’re back. Fashionably late, as befits its status, the Gazprom Invitational is up and running and we could be heading for something historic. Of the eight teams through to the quarter-finals, fully six of them have never lifted that big beautiful trophy before. Only Barcelona and Bayern Munich would be repeat champions, and they’re playing each other next! Some club could be a couple of weeks from achieving something unprecedented …

… in front of an empty stadium, because the coronavirus isn’t just a pandemic: it’s a pandemic with a cruel sense of timing.

Favourites to break their duck are Manchester City, who eased past Real Madrid thanks to two hideous brainfades from Raphaël Varane. Perhaps he was missing Sergio Ramos alongside him. Perhaps he was distracted by the sight of Sergio Ramos clapping and barking from the stands, his top-knot and beard paired with an audacious waistcoat: an estate agent that plays washboard in a skiffle band at weekends; a small plates entrepreneur that will have his day in court; a steampunk John Terry.

However. For corona-reasons the rest of the tournament is taking place in a single city, Lisbon, across two stadiums. Which makes Atletico Madrid’s announcement of two positive tests from their travelling group rather troubling, and not just for health reasons. The only way this is going to work is if the entire continent is able to pretend, together, that finishing the tournament off mid-pandemic is basically fine. A slew of positive tests, maybe even a team withdrawal, and we might have to acknowledge that this is, on balance, a ridiculous thing to be doing.