Daily Schmankerl: Bayern stars tested for COVID-19, 3 people test positive at FC Köln, Werner wants to transfer abroad

Coronavirus testing already underway at Bayern Munich (AZ)

Abendzeitung reports that Bayern Munich’s players have already been tested for coronavirus, starting on Friday.

The DFL ruled on Thursday that all players, coaches, and other personnel would begin to be tested immediately in preparation of a potential resumption of games behind closed doors.

It is thought that full team training may resume soon. For the past several weeks, teams have been training at most in small groups.

But there’s a complication...

Two players and a physio test positive at FC Köln (Sport Bild)

FC Köln made headlines yesterday when the club announced that three people had tested positive for the coronavirus and would immediately go into a two-week quarantine.

Here’s the tweet with a link to Köln’s press release:

Sport Bild reports that the three people in question are two players and a physio. None of the three showed any symptoms of the disease.

Köln’s CEO Horst Heldt said, “The health and privacy of our players and employees takes priority over all other considerations. The present measures and the strategy of regular testing have proven that we now can react with individual solutions.”

The club stated that it intends to continue training in small groups.

Like Heldt, the DFL seemed intent to spin the discovery as a success. The head of the coronavirus task force, Dr. Tim Meyer, said, “We see now in everyday life that our plan is recognizing and reducing risks early. We moreover are in constant communication with the responsible health officials and medical experts. We are convinced that with our concept we can make it possible for the players to practice their profession under the best possible protection from infection.”

Scorned (again) by Bayern, Timo Werner wants to go abroad (Bild)

Alas, despite Chuck’s best wishes, there will be no #TimoTime at Bayern Munich in the near future, it seems. Timo Werner gave an interview to Bild in which he discussed his future. About Bayern, Werner said,

“Bayern is a great club. We don’t need to debate that. And Hansi Flick has proven this season that he’s a really good head coach. But if a transfer should ever come up, I’d be drawn rather to go abroad than transfer to Bayern.”

As for why, he said: “It’s simply the case that the challenge in another league would appeal to me somewhat more than a transfer within the Bundesliga. And of course the fact that the mutual appreciation has to be absolutely has to be there is a factor, too. That’s why I decided in favor of RB Leipzig then, and that’s why for my next step I’d decide in favor of a club where I would get this feeling.”

Assistant coach Danny Röhl fails admission test for pro-licence seminar (Bild)

Hansi Flick’s analysis assistant Danny Röhl will have to wait before he can proceed to earn his pro-license in the Bundesliga, the prestigious Fußball-Lehrer qualification. Röhl was not admitted to the required course to earn the license.

The DFB selected 24 out of 100 applicants for the mandatory seminar. Among those chosen, U17 coach Miroslav Klose and U19 coach Danny Schwarz.

Röhl will have to wait until the fall before he can try again.

Bayern Munich sends 800 Sachertorten to 80 elderly homes in Munich

That’s 10 cakes each to 80 elderly homes. The club said in its press release:

The coronavirus pandemic affects all parts of our social life, with nursing facilities particularly affected. FC Bayern aims to send a signal of solidarity with the elderly and nursing staff. In cooperation with the Bavarian Ministry of Health and Care, FC Bayern staff will donate traditional Sachertorten cakes to around 80 Munich care homes.

“I talked to Health and Care Minister Melanie Huml on the phone a few weeks ago, and we agreed to implement a few campaigns to show people that football fulfils its role responsibly and in an exemplary manner in these hard times,” said FC Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge: “Our project ‘Coffee and cake with FC Bayern’ marks the start.”

Mmmm, Sachertorte...

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