With the officialization this Thursday evening of positive tests from Angel Di Maria but also from Julian Draxler, PSG brings to twenty-six the number of players in its current squad to have been infected by the virus since the start of the pandemic, by integrating the cases of Sergio Ramos (positive with Real in April 2021) and Nuno Mendes (with Sporting in January 2021).
If Draxler had not previously been affected, Di Maria has not. Other Parisians have thus contracted the Covid twice: Marco Verratti officially affected twice (January and April 2021), Gianluigi Donnarumma (October 2020 with Milan and last Tuesday) and Sergio Rico (early 2020 and last Sunday). Di Maria was part of the first wave of contaminations of club players, in September 2020, following returning from vacation in Ibiza. Mauricio Pochettino, too, was affected in January 2021.
Nine positives since returning from vacation
Three players, who have since left the club, had also been ill during their presence in Paris: Moise Kean, Pablo Sarabia and Rafinha. Within the current group, only Presnel Kimpembe, Georginio Wijnaldum and Xavi Simons have a priori, and in any case not officially, been contaminated.
Since the return of the Christmas holidays, at the start of 2022, Paris now has nine positive players. In addition to Draxler and Di Maria, there are indeed Lionel Messi and Juan Bernat (tested negative since), Nathan Bitumazala, Sergio Rico, Danilo Pereira, Gianluigi Donnarumma (Tuesday) and Layvin Kurzawa (Wednesday). Thilo Kehrer and Éric Junior Dina Ebimbe had been, them, just before the truce. In 2020, the club had registered ten cases and nine last year.
And nothing says that this list will not grow in a context of rapid contagions which have already led some clubs to request the postponement of their matches scheduled for this weekend, like Lille – Lorient which will not have place.
