Madrid, May 6 (IANS): A number of LaLiga teams, including Real Madrid and Barcelona, started testing their players for coronavirus on Wednesday as the Spanish football league heads towards a restart.

According to Marca, Karim Benzema, Eden Hazard, Nacho Fernandez, Rodrygo Goes, James Rodriguez, Gareth Bale, Marcelo and Dani Carvajal were among the Real players who reported to the club's training complex in Valdebebas on Tuesday.

Barcelona stars Sergi Roberto, Ivan Rakitic, Arturo Vidal, Antoine Griezmann, Clement Lenglet, Riqui Puig, Gerard Pique, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez were all spotted at the club's training complex, as was manager Quique Setien.

The testing is part of the league's protocol to restart in the middle of June. All remaining matches are to be played behind closed doors.

The de-escalation programme will be done in four phases announced by the Spanish government last week.

In the first, players would be allowed to train alone with six players allowed on the pitch. They are to arrive at club premises already in kit and wear masks and gloves when not training. The latter steps will slowly allow for small groups to train together and by the final phase in early June sessions can be held if attended by fewer than 400 people.