A major, unexpected and, of course, unfortunate surprise in the FC Barcelona expedition. A total of 10 players woke up at the downtown Los Angeles hotel with a stomach virus that gradually affected more players from the Barça squad. At the moment there are 15 affected. From the Blaugrana club they do not rule out at all that the number of patients increases.
As a consequence, Barcelona did not travel to Santa Clara, the town where the first game of the preseason against Juventus was to be played. The news caught the board led by President Joan Laporta by surprise. A total of 20 members of the Barcelona expedition, including executives and guests, were already on the plane to travel from Los Angeles to Santa Clara when they heard the news. They immediately returned to downtown to find an alternative. They even valued being able to play the game 24 hours later.
It happens that the economic situation of FC Barcelona is not exactly going through its best moment. The American tour implied an income of 12 million euros, being the classic against Real Madrid on July 29 in Dallas the match that represented the greatest number of benefits. However, Dr. Ricard Pruna ruled out the possibility that the situation will improve in the next few hours. On the contrary, since they do not rule out that the number of patients increases.
The news has side effects for Juventus as well. The Turin club also loses income by not being able to play the match at Levi’s Stadium, a stadium with a capacity for 72,300 spectators. At the moment, the Bianconero club scheduled a training session at 6:30 p.m. local time, waiting to find a solution. Not all the tickets had been sold to witness the match. Ticket prices ranged from $65 to $500.
The medical services rule out that the problem is the result of food poisoning and point to a virus. Among those affected by the outbreak there are also several assistants to the coaching staff, including Xavi Hernández and his assistant coach and brother, Òscar Hernández. It is also not known that there are managers with symptoms but they all returned to the hotel so that they could not attend the event with the Catalan Tourism Agency scheduled at Levi’s Stadium before the game, which was also attended by representatives of the United States technology sector.
The reasons for the outbreak are unknown. When the team was in Barcelona, ??one day before the flight, Gavi was absent from training due to stomach problems, although the day the team left for the United States he did exercise. Back on American soil, neither Koundé nor Balde trained with their teammates due to stomach ailments, although they did work out in the gym, located in a white tent on the green on the left side of the LA Memorial Coliseum, Barcelona’s headquarters in Los Angeles. It is also there where the rest of the squad began training, since at this start of the preseason Xavi Hernández seeks to strengthen his physique with a double gym session.
Little by little more footballers were falling. Last morning several players alerted doctor Ricard Pruna that they were in trouble. In the morning, before leaving the hotel, another group of players evidenced the massive contagion. They don’t have a fever but players like Eric Garcia or Oriol Romeu do vomit. Pedri or Ferran Torres are one of the few who have not been infected.
As a consequence, the Intercontinental hotel has been shielded. The staff remain isolated from the board of directors and Dr. Pruna has distributed masks to everyone. Everyone will follow a strict diet following the advice of the team of nutritionists who prepare the menus every day following the same guidelines as in the sports city. The most immediate goal is to get to the game against Arsenal, scheduled for next Wednesday in Los Angeles at SoFi Stadium.
