Guardiola tested negative for Covid after an alert

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was forced to cancel a pre-match press conference on Friday after receiving an inconclusive result in a Covid test, according to reporters who were to attend the speech.

Guardiola then underwent a PCR test which turned out negative, and will therefore be able to lead his team on Sunday at Newcastle.

The 50-year-old Spanish technician traveled to Barcelona on Wednesday for the announcement of Sergio Aguero’s retirement.

Guardiola, whose mother died of Covid-19 last year, has in the past been very involved in preventing the disease and urged his players to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.

« I am worried, not because the championship will suffer the consequences, but because in society, the virus is there and people are suffering, » he said at the start of the week.

City enter the weekend’s series at the top of the table with one point ahead of Liverpool and four over Chelsea, before heading to Newcastle on Sunday, 19th and penultimate in the Premier League.

This match is one of five matches still to take place this weekend, nine matches having already been postponed in one week due to contaminations of players with Covid-19, and the list of affected clubs is growing by day. in the day, causing concern among clubs.

« With small teams, smaller teams, you can not keep pace with this calendar, » lamented the German Jürgen Klopp, Liverpool coach on Friday.

« The lottery starts again tomorrow morning or tomorrow afternoon, » for his part explained his compatriot Thomas Tuchel on Friday about the Covid screening tests carried out within his workforce.

“Maybe we’re going to have to do some crazy stuff that we normally wouldn’t do. But what is normal? We are missing key players and we are finding solutions, ”said the Chelsea manager, who is considering possibly bringing forward the return of injured players, such as N’Golo Kante or Mateo Kovacic, to compensate for the absences linked to the Covid.