Spain's plans for Euro 2020 have been thrown into more turmoil after Leeds United defender Diego Llorente tested positive for Covid-19.
Captain Sergio Busquets had already tested positive on Sunday which forced manager Luis Enrique to name a team made up of under-21 players for Tuesday's friendly victory over Lithuania. The squad and coaching staff immediately went into isolation following the Barcelona mdifelder's result.
It is unclear when Busquets or Llorente will be able to return to the training camp, but the duo are likely to miss the first two games of Euro 2020.
Both players are no longer at the team's camp, while the rest of the squad continue to prepare for the tournament. Spanish FA (RFEF) President Luis Rubiales warned more cases were likely.
After Busquets' positive test, Spain called up six senior players – Kepa Arrizabalaga, Raul Albiol, Carlos Soler, Brais Mendez, Pablo Fornals and Rodrigo Moreno – to form a parallel training bubble so they could be called upon if needed.
The Spanish squad is currently down to 22 players, who are all training individually in their bubble. The parallel bubble includes 11 of those who played in the 4-0 win over Lithuania.
Unlike other European countries which opened vaccination to all adults, Spain has kept a rigorous age-based calendar. Currently people in the 50-59 and 40-49 age brackets are getting vaccines in different regions.
Sports Minister Jose Manuel Rodriguez Uribes said he expected the players would be vaccinated on Wednesday.
Group E campaign
Spain begin their Group E campaign against Sweden in Seville on Monday, before playing Poland (June 19) and Slovakia (June 23).
Two Sweden players also tested positive for Covid on Tuesday – Juventus winger Dejan Kulusevski and Bologna midfielder Mattias Svanberg.
The finals begin on Friday when Italy take on Turkey in Rome.
