The French striker says that the entire Blues squad are suffering for their craft as preparations for the resumption of the season continue
Olivier Giroud has revealed the pains of Chelsea‘s return to training ahead of the Premier League restart, admitting “almost all of my team-mates got blisters”.
The coronavirus outbreak forced the English top-flight to temporarily shut-up shop in March, with the rest of Europe’s major leagues all following suit.
Players and staff across the country have been forced to maintain fitness in quarantine from the comfort of their own homes, in accordance with new government rules regarding social distancing.
Certain restrictions have been lifted recently, however, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has given the green light for top-level sport to return from June 1.
Premier League officials have agreed on a provisional resumption date of June 17 for the 2019-20 season, with clubs now cleared to hold full-contact training sessions after a unanimous vote.
Giroud is delighted to be back on the pitch after so long in self-isolation but says it hasn’t all been plain sailing for the Chelsea squad amid high temperatures and physical niggles.
The 33-year-old centre-forward told Uefa.com: “We resumed training [on Tuesday 19 May]. It really feels good to be back on the pitch, to get to see team-mates again and to simply be playing football. I’d really missed it.
“It’s very unusual, as we work in groups of five. We need to maintain a two-metre minimum social distance between each other, meaning no contact.
“We’re tested [for Covid-19] twice a week. We can’t access the changing room. We can’t shower either, meaning you have to get changed before stepping into your car in order to keep it clean. It’s very hot at the moment too – I’m not complaining about that, but it means we sweat a lot!
“During lockdown, Chelsea would send us programmes to follow to keep fit. We had exercises to do every day. I’m lucky enough to live right next to a great park and I went there to run almost every day.
“Towards the end of this period, the whole team video-called and we did circuit training. I did it at home in the playroom alongside my children. I took a picture of us – it was nice. However, nothing replaces being on the pitch. Almost all my team-mates got blisters after resuming training.”
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