Club vs. country: How coronavirus is causing havoc

With the football season well underway in Europe despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it is still far from business as usual. Not only is a compressed schedule starting to take a toll, but it's causing national team coaches some additional headaches.  

A case in point is Joachim Löw who found himself leading Germany's first training session of this international break with just seven players and a goalkeeper. With the coronavirus having caused the domestic and European schedule to become more jammed than ever, Löw chose to give 12 players who had already arrived at the team's camp in Leipzig a day of rest and recovery.  

Seven others who are involved in the Champions League were allowed to join up with the squad a day later. Positive COVID-19 tests ruled out Kai Havertz and Niklas Süle entirely, although the Bayern defender has since tested negative and returned to training. 

Gündogan feeling the strain 

Among those rested was Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gündogan, who had missed the previous international break after himself being infected with COVID-19. Gündogan's last match was Sunday's 1-1 draw against Liverpool. Speaking to reporters in a virtual press conference on Tuesday, Löw said that Gündogan playing 90 minutes in Wednesday's friendly against Czech Republic was out of the question.  

"Ilkay played in a very intense match on Sunday evening. He will be a key player for us in the Nations League on Saturday and Tuesday," Löw said. "We'll speak after the final training session, to see how much makes sense. Perhaps 45 minutes or subbing him on in the second half." 

Gündogan's club coach, Pep Guardiola, will appreciate his Germany counterpart's concern, arguing that players involved internationally are in more danger of being overworked than ever.  

Both Guardiola and Liverpool's Jürgen Klopp are demanding that the Premier League revert to five subs, as had been the case when league returned to finish last season after the weeks-long coronavirus-induced break.  

"It's the only big league with only three subs. Big surprise. It's a lack of leadership," Klopp said, referring to a vote prior to the season that saw the smaller Premier League clubs prevail, as they fear allowing five subs would benefit their richer rivals with larger squads.  

"It is so demanding for the players,'' Guardiola said. "I don't understand how the Premier League or the people in charge decide these kinds of things.'' 

Threat of quarantine 

Beyond the strain caused by the tighter schedule, the rise of coronavirus infections across Europe has affected some teams' willingness or ability to release their players for internationals. Bundesliga clubs Werder Bremen and Arminia Bielefeld both stated last week that they would not release any of their national team players for matches abroad, as local health authorities would have required them to spend several days in quarantine upon their return.   

Both are within their rights to do so since FIFA introduced a temporary change to the rules, which states that clubs are not required to release their players for international duty if this would require them to undergo a period of quarantine when they return.  

But with the final word in Germany on all things relating to the coronavirus in the hands of the local health authorities, there is no uniform approach – even within single states. 

In Austria, six Red Bull Salzburg players were told they couldn't join their national teams after each tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Subsequent negative tests have left their situations unclear.

Italy in chaos, Löw warning 

During this international break though, probably no team has been as hard hit as Italy. Not only has coach Roberto Mancini been forced into quarantine after coming into contact with the coronavirus, but several clubs, like Lazio, Roma and Fiorentina, are in isolation and the health authorities in their respective regions have not yet authorized players to leave and join up with the national team. This left Mancini, who plans to coach the team remotely until at least the weekend, scrambling to cobble together a squad.  

With just two players ruled out due to the pandemic, the Germany coach has had a much easier time naming his roster, and of those two, Löw said he was hoping Süle could join the team for the Nations League matches against Ukraine (November 14) and Spain (November 17).  

But as the press conference drew towards a close, Löw came back to the packed football calendar, warning that if both national team and club coaches didn't do enough to get players the rest and recovery they need, things could get much worse as the season goes on. 

"If we coaches don't act with the utmost of caution, we will have a big problem next year," Löw said. "There's never been a season like this and hopefully there will never be another one like it," he concluded.