Real Madrid's Luka Jovic Apologises for Self-Isolation Breach in Serbia

Real Madrid striker Luka Jovic has apologised for breaking self-isolation rules after returning to his native Serbia from Spain.

With the La Liga season suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic, Jovic returned home last week.

He was expected to observe 28 days of self-isolation in Serbia after returning from Spain, the second-most-affected country in Europe (11,178 cases and 491 deaths as of Wednesday, per CNN).

Per Ben Spratt of Goal, Jovic was reportedly spotted outside his apartment in Belgrade, and he has now taken to Instagram to explain the situation via the stories feature:

"Since the situation in the world and in our country is very difficult, I have to come forward and give support to my people. First of all, I am very sorry that I am the main topic these days and that I am constantly being written about, not the heroes of this crisis, doctors and all the medical professionals.

"While in Spain, I [tested] negative for coronavirus and decided to come to Serbia to help and support our people and be close to my family, in agreement with the officials. When I landed in Serbia, I was once again tested and coronavirus negative.

"It is very unfortunate for me that some people did their job unprofessionally and did not give me the correct instructions for how to behave in self-isolation. In Spain, I was allowed to go to a pharmacy and a supermarket so that I could get the groceries I needed, which is not the case here.

"I apologise to all the people if I compromised them in some way and I hope that we can manage to get through all this together. Support Serbia and let's stick together."

Real's entire squad have been quarantined since March 12 after Trey Thompkins, one of the club's basketball players, tested positive for the coronavirus.

That was the prompt for La Liga to be suspended for two matchdays:

That delay seems likely to be extended soon.

Football in England was initially suspended until April 3, but it was confirmed on Thursday that the season would be further postponed until April 30:

The suspension of on-field action across Europe has left Real lying second in the Spanish top flight, two points behind leaders Barcelona, and trailing 2-1 in their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie against Manchester City.

The second leg of the tie against the Citizens was initially scheduled to take place on Tuesday at the Etihad Stadium.

Jovic only joined Real in June from Eintracht Frankfurt. His debut season in the Spanish capital has been a difficult one as he has scored just two goals in 15 La Liga appearances.