Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane worked with the entire team for the first time on Monday since they returned to training after a suspension of over two months due to the nationwide lockdown imposed in Spain to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Real Madrid began the fourth week of training with the news that Zidane was able to work with the entire group for the first time since 11 March,” Real Madrid said in a statement released on their official website.

Advertisement

“Under the strict health rules of the protocol set by LaLiga due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the players completed a very physical first part of the session and continued with individual and group exercises with the ball and goals.

“Finally, they played a twelve vs twelve game. Nacho worked alone on the field and Jović continues with his recovery process,” the club added.

Los Blancos on Monday also announced that they will not play their remaining La Liga matches at Santiago Bernabeu when the 2019-20 season resumes on June 11. Club president Florentino Perez said in a press conference that they will host their games at the Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium at Valdebebas.

“We have made the decision to play in the Alfredo Di Stefano stadium in our Ciudad Real Madrid all the games in which we will play as the home team,” Goal.com quoted Perez as saying in a letter to club’s supporters.

“The decision will allow us to advance in the works of the Santiago Bernabeu stadium,” he added.

The decision to use an alternative venue was taken to complete the ongoing renovation at the Santiago Bernabeu ahead of schedule. The latest renovations at the stadium will see a retractable roof and a removable pitch to be used for events other than football matches.

La Liga has remained suspended since March due to the crisis caused by the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. But with the number of fresh cases decreasing massively, Spain’s Higher Council of Sports (CSD) announced that it had agreed with the plans of the Royal Spanish Federation (REFF) to restart the top-flight league.

According to their announcement, the league would resume on June 11 with the Sevilla derby between Real Betis and Sevilla. The following weekends of June 13 and 14 would see the remaining matches of the round.