July 28, (THEWILL) – Before new Real Madrid defender David Alaba has had the opportunity of a debut appearance for the La Liga heavyweights, the Austrian will be sidelined after returning a positive test result for COVID-19, as the club confirmed on Wednesday.
A brief statement from the club read: “Real Madrid C. F. confirm that our player David Alaba has tested positive for COVID-19.”
THEWILL reported in May that the 28-year-old joined Real on a five-year deal this summer after running down his contract at Bavarian giants Bayern Munich last season. He will go into self-isolation pending a negative test result although there were no indications if he was asymptomatic.
It follows the news last week that confirmed another COVID-19 positive case of French striker Karim Benzema, Alaba’s fellow squad member. It forced Benzema to sit-out Real’s pre-season loss to Scottish Premier League champions, Rangers.
They lost that game 2-1 as Zambia’s Fashion Sakala levelled the scores after Rodrygo had given Real an early lead. Then, Cedric Itten wrapped up the victory for Rangers a minute after a red card was handed over to Nacho Fernandez for a second bookable offense.
Real will hope to bounce back, even without Alaba providing his experienced defensive duties at the backline, when they welcome Italian big boys AC Milan to Spain on Sunday, August 8 in their next pre-season encounter.
They intend to build up enough momentum under the distinguished guidance of returnee Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti to immediately challenge for the trophy from their first League game of the season, which is an away tie against Deportivo Alaves that managed to beat Real in Madrid last November.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
