How many matches will be postponed this weekend? The list grows from hour to hour. Here is the inventory on the eve of the first weekend meetings.
In Ligue 1, the match between Lille and Lorient counting for the 20th day is postponed. The Lorient, who have not yet played in 2022, have too many cases of Covid-19, twelve, in their workforce for the match to take place. The people of Lille have nine. Threatened due to a cluster in the Girondins workforce, the meeting between OM and Bordeaux is maintained for the moment.
Troyes, now coached by Bruno Irles, detected this Thursday 13 proven cases of Covid-19 within the list of 30 players in its pro workforce. The Aubois club wants its meeting once morest Montpellier, scheduled for Sunday (3 p.m.) to be postponed. For the record, the match between Angers and Saint-Étienne had already been postponed.
Ligue 2 is not immune to the pandemic. The LFP announced that 3 matches of the 20th day this Saturday are postponed due to many cases of Covid detected in the workforce of Niort, Dunkirk and Amiens. These are the matches between Amiens SC and AC Ajaccio, Dunkirk once morest Paris FC and Caen once morest Niort. Despite 8 positive cases in Rodez, the Aveyron team’s meeting once morest Pau has not yet been postponed.
Soaring cases in Serie A
In England, the weekend is devoted to the 32nd finals of the FA Cup. No meeting is postponed for the time being. Manchester City, leader of the Premier League, travels this Friday evening to Swindon Town (D4). Liverpool, who were unable to face Arsenal on Tuesday in the semi-final first leg of the League Cup due to numerous cases of Covid-19 in their workforce, will receive Shrewsbury Town (D3) at Anfield on Sunday followingnoon.
In Germany, no meeting of the 18th day is for the moment postponed. Bayern Munich, leader of the Bundesliga, receives M’Gladbach this Friday. Deprived of 9 players infected with Covid-19, the Bavarians asked that their match be postponed. With two players who left for the African Cup of Nations (Choupo-Moting, Sarr) plus one injured, Bayern has only 13 valid pro players.
and Italy, with 87 positive cases announced in 19 Italian clubs, local health agencies have blocked many teams. Prohibited from travel and placed in isolation, Torino, Salernitana, Bologna and Udinese were unable to leave their region and were unable to present on the lawn this Thursday as part of the 20th day of the Serie A. The 21st day will take place this Sunday. For the moment, no match has been officially postponed.
In Spain, no match out of the 10 of the 21st day of La Liga which runs from early Saturday followingnoon to Monday evening has been postponed. But some teams will be reduced, such as FC Barcelona, which had to present a very rejuvenated starting eleven last Sunday in Mallorca (0-1).
Threats on the Top 14
In the Top 14 in rugby, the president of RC Toulon announced that his team might not receive La Rochelle to play the match scheduled for Sunday because its workforce has many cases of Covid. The match at the top of the 15th day between Montpellier (3rd), of which several members of its workforce and its management are affected by the Covid-19, and Toulouse (2nd) is also threatened.
In basketball, the match of the 15th day of the BetClic Élite between Orléans and Gravelines-Dunkerque which was to be played this Sunday at 5.30 p.m. is postponed. The Northern club requested the postponement of the match because its workforce is affected by the Covid-19 and cannot line up the seven regulatory professional players. The request was accepted by the National Basketball League.