Real Madrid players Eden Hazard and Casemiro test positive for COVID-19

Reigning Spanish La Liga champions Real Madrid CF has received a double blow this week. The club has announced that two of their first team players, Casemiro and Eden Hazard, have tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease.

In a statement posted on November 7, 2020, the club said:

"Real Madrid C.F. informs that our players, Casemiro and Eden Hazard, have tested positive in the COVID-19 tests undertaken yesterday, Friday, in the morning."

The tests are part of the regular screening process that all La Liga clubs undergo during the ongoing season. All players, coaching and training staff are tested regularly before and after games. This particular round of tests have been scheduled following Real Madrid's midweek fixture against Italian side Inter Milan.

The players would have been getting ready to continue training for Sunday's La Liga clash against Valencia.

The statement further reads, "All of the other first-team players and coaching staff, as well as the club employees who work directly with the squad tested negative in yesterday's tests. Meanwhile, all of them, apart from Casemiro and Hazard, once again tested negative in the antigen tests taken this morning."

Defender Casemiro and striker Hazard join Militao, who had tested positive a week ago. It will be a particularly big blow for Hazard, who has only just started to get back in perfect condition to play regularly. The Belgian had been plagued by injuries throughout most of the previous season.

Zinedine Zidane won't be happy with the fact that he will have fewer players to call up. The three COVID-19 positive players will join Odriozola, Carvajal and Nacho, who are also sidelined due to injuries.

Real Madrid has a deep bench relative to most other teams, but losing so many players from the roster will still affect Zidane's strategy. They will need to win against Valencia in order to regain the top spot in the league table and to keep their title defence on track.