Carlo Ancelotti will be in the dugout for Real Madrid’s Champions League clash against former club Chelsea tonight after all.
The Italian had looked set to miss out on a trip to Stamford Bridge for the heavyweight quarter-final, first-leg tie after testing positive for Covid-19 last week.
Ancelotti’s son and assistant Davide stepped in for his father during Saturday’s LaLiga clash with Celta Vigo and had looked likely to do so again in west London this evening, with Ancelotti senior unable to travel with the Madrid squad to the UK on Tuesday.
However, Los Blancos have now confirmed that their experienced manager will fly over and join his players on Wednesday morning after finally testing negative for the virus.
“Real Madrid CF announces that our coach Carlo Ancelotti has tested negative for COVID-19, so he will travel to London this morning to join the first team training camp,” Madrid said in an official statement.
Madrid managed to defy the absence of Ancelotti to grind out a hard-fought win over the weekend, with Karim Benzema netting two of three penalties in a 2-1 victory at Balaidos that saw them move 12 points clear of Barcelona, Atletico and Sevilla at the LaLiga summit with only eight games remaining this season.
The 13-time European champions - who produced a stunning, Benzema-inspired comeback to topple Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last-16 - were also indebted to former Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois following his stunning save to deny Celta Vigo’s Iago Aspas.
