Manchester City's Champions League tie with Real Madrid is set to go ahead – despite one of the Spanish club's players testing positive for coronavirus.
Madrid striker Mariano Diaz will now miss the second leg of the last 16 tie at the Etihad Stadium a week on Friday, after beginning a two-week period of quarantine.
Diaz, a fringe player who has made just seven substitute appearances this season, is understood to have tested positive on his return from a break following Real's clinching of the Spanish league.
The 26-year-old is not thought to have been in physical contact with members of Real's squad in the past week, although tests are due to be carried out on Zinedine Zidane's squad in the coming days.
City, who hold a 2-1 lead from the first leg of the tie, are not understood to have major concerns over the development, while UEFA, who are liaising with both clubs, do not consider the tie to be in jeopardy.
But if more Real players test positive in their next round of testing, that could ultimately throw the tie into serious doubt.
Real released a statement which read: “After the COVID-19 tests carried out yesterday on our first football team footballers by the Real Madrid medical services, our player Mariano has given a positive result.
“The player is in perfect health and complying with the sanitary isolation protocol at home.”
Real are exempt from the Government's new ruling, which requires travellers arriving in the UK from Spain to spend 14 days in quarantine.
Elite athletes and sports teams who operate in a 'bubble' environment are not required to abide by the quarantine rules, meaning Real are free to travel unrestricted to the UK.
