Injuries

FIFA has proposed that teams should be allowed to make up to five substitutions per match, instead of the usual three, as a temporary measure to help cope with potential fixture congestion in the aftermath of the novel coronavirus outbreak. 

Football has been at a standstill since mid-March but many leagues and federations are still hoping to complete the season but to do so they would have to cram fixtures into a shorter period than usual once play re-starts.

Balls and pitches will need to be sterilized frequently when Spanish soccer returns in order to minimize the chance of players getting infected by the novel coronavirus, a leading doctor in the sport has said. 

Spanish soccer has been on hold since March 10 due to the pandemic and stakeholders have been drawing up plans to complete the current season in a bid to avoid catastrophic financial losses, although a date for a return is yet to be set. 

Former Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini has been discharged from a Chinese hospital after recovering from the coronavirus. Fellaini now plays in the Chinese Super League for Shandong Luneng and had tested positive three weeks before being discharged.

Paul Pogba's stint on the sidelines has made him more determined to succeed on his return from a layoff for a foot injury, the Manchester United midfielder has said. Pogba's injury restricted him to eight appearances so far this season, but he was primed to return before professional football in England was suspended because of the COVID-19 outbreak. 

Former Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini has been diagnosed with COVID-19 following his return to China, the Belgian's Chinese Super League club Shandong Luneng announced on its official website on Sunday. 

Fellaini, who joined Shandong last January from the English Premier League side, returned to the country on Friday to join up with his club and tested positive for the coronavirus. The former Belgium international did not have a fever and was asymptomatic, the club said, and has now been placed in quarantine. 

With the World Health Organization declaring a pandemic and the United States confirming more than 1,000 cases of infection, Major League Soccer is set to announce a suspension of play until further notice to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

President Donald Trump has also announced that the U.S. is temporarily suspending most travel from Europe, including 26 different countries for 30 days, in an effort to combat the virus. 

Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane has given club and country a major boost after returning to training following a hamstring injury that has sidelined him since Jan. 1. 

Television footage showed England's captain training at Tottenham's training ground on Monday, albeit not with the rest of the first team preparing for Tuesday's Champions League last 16, second leg at RB Leipzig. 

"Love being back on the grass with a ball at my feet," Kane said on Twitter.

Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker will miss Saturday's home Premier League game against Bournemouth as well as their Champions League clash against Atletico Madrid after suffering a hip injury this week, manager Juergen Klopp said on Friday.

The Brazilian was left out of the squad when Liverpool lost 2-0 at Chelsea in the FA Cup with Spaniard Adrian playing in goal instead and Klopp revealed he had injured his hip in training prior to Tuesday's game.

Chelsea's progress has been severely dented this season due to a number of injury setbacks and several senior players will be unavailable for Tuesday's FA Cup fifth-round clash with Liverpool, manager Frank Lampard said on Monday.

Players such as influential midfielder N'Golo Kante have had a stop-start campaign while others like Antonio Rudiger have either returned from injury recently or been sidelined like winger Christian Pulisic.