Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has blamed the “too demanding” football schedule for the club’s growing injury problems and has called for the number of games to be reduced.
Jude Bellingham is he’s just back after missing a month with a leg muscle injury. Aurelien Tchouameni is also back after a slightly shorter absence, but Madrid are still without fellow midfielders Eduardo Camavinga and Dani Ceballos.
Brahim Diaz has been ruled out until the end of 2024, while David Alaba continues his slow recovery from an ACL injury. Madrid They were also relieved last week to discover that Eder Militao was not seriously injured when he retired from international duty.
In Ancelotti’s eyes, it’s not what the club can do to alleviate the situation, but the powers that be in football.
“We’ve looked at what we can do, but it’s out of our hands,” he suggested this week as Madrid prepare to start the new eight-game ‘league phase’ of the Champions League.
“The problem is a schedule that is too demanding,” added the chief.
“Now we have a new (Champions League). We don’t know how it will go, if it will be more entertaining, but the only fact is that we have two extra games. I appeal to people to think about reducing the number of matches, to have more attractive competitions.”
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson has also been critical of the inflated schedulesuggesting that player welfare was not taken into account enough when the Champions League was expanded.
The reform of Europe’s elite club competition sees it grow from 32 teams to 36, grouped in a single league table. Each club will face eight opponents as they fight for a spot in the last 16, with the top eight receiving an automatic bye into the last 16 and those ranked ninth to 24th pushed into an additional knockout round.
This means that half of the clubs in the last 16 will have to play up to ten games to get there, and the other half will play eight, whereas before they only needed six.
At the end of the season, Madrid will be among the 32 clubs involved in the revamped FIFA Club World Cup, which is now a quadrennial summer tournament that lasts an entire month. The old Club World Cup has not been ruled out, however, with Madrid also set to play in a renamed FIFA Intercontinental Cup that has replaced the annual December tournament.
In addition to La Liga, Copa del Rey, Spanish Super Cup and UEFA Super Cup commitments, Madrid will be involved in seven different competitions this season and could play up to 71 games.
