Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola said that it has been a difficult time for anyone who lost a family member to coronavirus. Guardiola's mother Dolores died of the deadly disease in April. The coach is now back in Manchester with the team as it prepares to take on Arsenal on Wednesday in its first match since the Premier League was suspended due to the pandemic.
"What I live personally is the same as everyone lives. There is nothing different," Guardiola was quoted as saying by BBC Sport.
"All the people we lost are important to their families. That is why we have the families to be together, to be strong.
"For all the people who lost very important members of their families or real friends, it has been a difficult time."
The match against Arsenal was one of the first casualties during the regular season on March 11. Guardiola had said in the build-up to that game that he was not in support of playing matches without spectators and he admitted that his comments were ill advised at the time.
"In that moment, when I made that comment, nobody expected what happened, not even the doctors," he said.
"The best scientists in the world didn't expect what happened in this situation.
"The health of the people is important but at the end, the Premier League, like in Spain, decide we have to play and we are going to play.
"The players are human. They are going to adapt as quickly as possible."
( With inputs from IANS )