A major, unexpected and of course unfortunate surprise in the FC Barcelona expedition. A total of 10 players woke up this Saturday at the downtown Los Angeles hotel with a stomach virus that gradually affected 15 players from the Blaugrana squad. 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 of directors led by President Joan Laporta by surprise. A total of 20 members of the Barcelona expedition, including managers 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. The president even tried to negotiate to play the match against the Italian team on Monday but there is no availability at Levi’S Stadium.
The attempt to overcome the situation is not trivial. It happens that the economic situation of the blaugrana club is not exactly going through its best moment. The insurance covers part of the expected income, but not the ticketing. The American tour implied an income of 12 million euros, with the classic against Real Madrid on July 29 in Dallas being the match that will bring the greatest number of benefits. The club calculates that not playing the game against Juventus entails losing 2 million euros.
The news has side effects also for Italians. The Turin club loses income by not being able to play the match at Levi’s Stadium, a stadium with a capacity for 72,300 spectators. However, the competition insurance allows Juventus to enter the amounts provided for ticketing. Ticket prices ranged from $65 to $500. Not all tickets had been sold to witness the match.
Among those affected by the outbreak there are also two assistants to the coaching staff, among whom is not Xavi Hernández nor his second coach and brother, Òscar. It is also not known that there are managers with symptoms, but they all returned to the hotel, so they could not attend the event with the Catalan Tourism Agency scheduled at Levi’s Stadium before the game that representatives of the United States technology sector were also going to attend. Club sources say that calling off this act has had no economic consequences for the entity.
The origin of the outbreak is unknown. It is known that when the team was in Barcelona, ??one day before flying, Gavi was absent from training due to stomach problems, although when the team left for the United States he did exercise. Back in the US, neither Koundé nor Balde trained with their teammates due to intestinal discomfort, 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 headquarters in Los Angeles.
Two days later both are practically recovered. That same Saturday afternoon, the coach called an impromptu training session at the LA Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles with the unaffected at game time. They all worked with the same intensity but in small groups to minimize risks. Pedri or Ferran Torres are one of the few who have not been infected. Others like Eric Garcia, Dembélé or Oriol Romeu, a new Blaugrana signing, have been infected. Symptoms are vomiting and decomposition but no fever.
As a consequence of this situation, the Intercontinental hotel has shielded itself. The staff remain isolated from the board of directors and Dr. Pruna has distributed masks to everyone. The patients are isolated in their rooms. Until there they take their food and follow strict hydration guidelines.
Everyone complies with a soft 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 match against Arsenal, scheduled for next Wednesday in Los Angeles at SoFi Stadium. Barça is optimistic that this Monday everything will return to normal.
