Real Madrid are facing what is likely to be the longest season in their history, amid frequent complaints from players about the calendar, which could contain as many as 72 games and last as long as 11 months if they reach the final of the Club World Cup next July. Manager Carlo Ancelotti had come up with a plan to tackle some of that fatigue, but so far he has been forced to scrap it.
The injury crisis at the club which has seen Brahim Diaz, Dani Ceballos, David Alaba and Eduardo Camavinga already ruled out for months, in addition to problems for Aurelien Tchouameni and Jude Bellingham, has forced the Italian to alter his plans.
“When the players come from international matches, what we are going to do is give them three days off and then return. The idea is not to make them train once they have finished with their national team,” Ancelotti had noted, as covererd by Relevo.
Yet against Real Sociedad, Vinicius Junior and Eder Militao were straight back into the line-up after a heavy international duty with Brazil, and following Brahim’s injury, Rodrygo Goes was also back into the fray before the half-hour mark. Fede Valverde was only save several days and a match by a suspension with Uruguay.
The idea of giving his players ‘mini-holidays’ to ease the strain on their muscles is in jeopardy if they cannot keep their squad fit. The other alternative would be to rely on Real Madrid Castilla players, but Ancelotti has always been reluctant to do so, once stating that his job was to ‘win games, not play youngsters’.
Tchouameni and Bellingham are due to return to action this week against Stuttgart on Tuesday in the Champions League, which will be a relief for Ancelotti. That should ease the demands on Fede Valverde and Luka Modric, but undoubtedly Los Blancos are looking short of options to rotate too much at the moment.
Source: Football-espana