Atletico Madrid have announced that striker Diego Costa and defender Santiago Arias have tested positive for coronavirus.
The players are in quarantine and will not report for the team’s first day of pre-season training on Friday.
Most of the squad underwent their coronavirus tests on Thursday, but Costa and Arias tested positive while on holiday, the club said
Neither man has shown any symptoms of the illness but they must remain in isolation away from Diego Simeone’s squad.
Atletico will begin their season at the end of the month against Granada in LaLiga.
Their first two league matches were postponed because their season ended later as the team participated in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Coronavirus is causing havoc for other teams in Europe too, with a number of players testing positive having travelled abroad during the break.
French publication L’Equipe reported that Marquinhos, Keylor Navas and Mauro Icardi were the latest after Neymar, Angel Di Maria and Leandro Paredes contracted the illness following a break in Ibiza.
Ligue 1 began again on August 21 after a lengthy hiatus, but PSG are yet to kickstart their title defence after reaching the Champions League final last month.
Marseille and Saint-Etienne were originally scheduled to clash on the opening day, but the fixture was postponed after four players for the home team tested positive.
The Premier League will be wary of similar issues ahead of the new campaign with multiple players having returned from Greece with the virus already.
Should there be a huge rise in case and the need for key players to quarantine, the beginning of the season could be severely disrupted.
