Elche gathered the six players who could not attend yesterday morning in the morning practice today. because of a stomach virus that prevents them from training. The Díez Iborra football field hosted the preparations for the match that Elche will play with Barcelona at 16:15 tomorrow at Camp Nou between 10:30-11:45. All A team players were there, except for Omar Mascarell, who will not be on the roster list as BİLGİ announced yesterday.
Francisco’s team is gearing up for an uphill battle in an atypical week due to viral gastroenteritis that struck yesterday. Enzo Roco, Ezequiel Ponce, Gerard Gumbau, Álex Collado, Roger Marí and Diego González. None of them could train with the group, and Almeria messed up his coach’s training plans. When some players were consulted after today’s practice, they all claimed that they had apparently overcome a 24-hour virus. In addition, those affected reassured this newspaper that they are in excellent condition after a bad day.
Omar Mascarell is the only safe drop off to travel to Barcelona. His Achilles tendon discomfort continues, and the technical team chose not to push himself any further and chose to recover this week and in the following weeks, taking advantage of the break given by the commitment of the national teams. Francis pointed out “Mascarell has a condition that prevents him from being 100% and we have decided to quit”.
Regarding yesterday’s large number of losses, the club never considered the possibility of requesting a suspension of the match, as everything seemed to indicate that the recovery of those affected would be complete. In any case, at a press conference, Francisco realized that some were skeptical today as they were expressing fatigue. “Fortunately, 6 of our athletes, who could not train yesterday due to the stomach virus, joined us today. And I think they will all be there tomorrow, except for those with fatigue problems,” he said.
The coach also acknowledged his concerns about Pol Lirola’s involvement. “He’s with physiotherapists right now and I’m not sure if he’ll be ready to travel… He got a hit during training and they’re currently treating him,” Francisco said.