Stade Rennais travels to London to face Tottenham this Thursday. It is the last day of the group stage of the Conference League, and the Rennais are already able to finish first in group G, and therefore to qualify directly for the knockout stages. If the sporting issue is non-existent for Bruno Genesio’s men, Tottenham is aiming for second place. But the English will not benefit from optimal preparation for this match, and for good reason: on the eve of the match, their coach Antonio Conte informs that eight players and five members of his staff have tested positive for Covid-19.
“Every day, there are people with Covid who were not positive the day before. The situation is not good“Antonio Conte explains. The Italian coach of Tottenham is very worried:” We had eleven players available for the match, and at the end of today’s training, one of the players who was due to start tomorrow is now positive. It’s scary, we all had contact.“
As it stands, the postponement of the match is not under consideration. In UEFA competitions, matches are only postponed if one of the two teams has fewer than thirteen players (including a goalkeeper) available among those entered on its A list. before the start of the competition. For the moment Tottenham should therefore play this meeting against Rennes, despite the concerns of Antonio Conte. However, there is the question of potential cases in the process of incubation, and therefore currently tested as negative, but which could transmit the Covid to Rennes players on Thursday. Should this match be played? An exceptional postponement could protect both sides, but the Premier League’s hellish schedule in December seems to prevent it.