Real Madrid news: More Covid-19 cases reported after Christmas break

Four more players tested positive ahead of the first training session after the break

The Real Madrid CF Covid-19 crisis is far from over. Despite the good news that the players who were infected earlier this month have started to return negative results, an additional batch of new players have now tested positive.

Following a very short Christmas break, Real Madrid players and staff were once again subjected to another round of testing before returning to training. Unfortunately, the club announced on Wednesday that Thibaut Courtois, Fede Valverde, Eduardo Camavinga and Vinicius Junior have joined the long list of players that have tested positive for Covid-19 this month alone.

Just days after defeating Atletico Madrid two weeks ago, Luka Modric and Marcelo tested positive, quickly followed by Marco Asensio, Rodrygo, Gareth Bale, Andriy Lunin and assistant coach Davide Ancelotti. Before the break, David Alaba and Isco also became infected.

Most of the aforementioned players have already returned negative results and are working their way back to fitness. However, manager Carlo Ancelotti now has to deal with the fresh batch of infections. Unfortunately, up until now, only Luka Modric and David Alaba were regular starters among those infected.

Now, the squad's number one goalkeeper is also sidelined, alongside the three other important players. Vini in particular, has been on fire this season. Ancelotti will be unhappy to see him become unavailable for selection, and will be praying hard that Karim Benzema remains healthy.

Meanwhile, numerous other La Liga clubs have been hit with outbreaks of their own, including FC Barcelona. The league is requiring each club to have only a total of five first-team players available in order to push through with a fixture. The rest of the 13-man squad can be called up from the reserves or the youth squad. With the situation escalating rapidly, it remains to be seen if La Liga will impose any additional restrictions.

Real Madrid are scheduled to face neighbours Getafe at 14:00 CET on Sunday, January 2,