Spain vs Sweden thrown into Covid chaos as two more players test positive

Spain's Euro 2020 opener has been thrown into further doubt with the emerging news that two Sweden players have tested positive for coronavirus.

La Roja's preparations have already been seriously disrupted after Sergio Busquets returned a positive test over the weekend.

The Barcelona midfielder is now self-isolating, while RFEF are trying to establish who may have been in close contact with him within the bubble.

Up to this point, no other Spain players have tested positive, although the remainder of Luis Enrique's squad remain in isolation as per the Spanish health ministry's current protocols.

Spain were due to face Lithuania in their final warm-up fixture in Leganes on Tuesday, although that fixture will now be fulfilled using players exclusively from the Under-21 setup.

Enrique has also been forced to call up five extra players who will train away from the group in what is being described as a parallel bubble.

Chelsea keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga is the latest to get the call, following Rodrigo Moreno, Pablo Fornals, Carlos Soler, Brais Mendez and Raul Albiol.

They will remain on standby and will not stay at the nation's Las Rozas training base in the event there is another outbreak.

However, while Spain's test results proved a huge positive, their Group E opener with Sweden on Monday has been plunged into further doubt with Dejan Kulusevski and Mattias Svanberg both testing positive.

Juventus star Kulusevski was the first to be forced into isolation, after he complained of suffering with 'cold-like symptoms'.

The Swedish FA confirmed the news in a statement which read: "This morning, Dejan Kulusevski informed us in the medical team that he had cold symptoms.

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"Dejan was quickly tested immediately and that test was positive. Dejan has since been kept isolated from the rest of the group and did not travel with us to Gothenburg, says national team doctor Anders Valentin."

Goteborgs-Posten have now reported that Svanberg left training on Tuesday morning after a conversation with team doctor Valentin, after which he also tested positive for coronavirus.

He will now leave Sweden's training base and isolate until he is allowed to return as per the current return to play guidelines.

The three players that have tested positive will definitely miss the opener, while further PCR testing will now be conducted on both sides to ensure an outbreak is contained efficiently.

UEFA have put a number of protocols in place in order to fend off potential disruption, the first of which was increasing squad sizes to 26, up from the traditional 23.

There is also scope for games to be delayed by 48-hours should a team have fewer than 13 players available.

If a team is unable to fulfil a fixture within that time frame, the opponents will be handed a 3-0 victory.

Spain are set to take on Sweden in Seville on June 14, kicking off at 20.00, amid a backdrop of controversy after Enrique opted to not include any Real Madrid players in his squad.