Real Madrid’s complaints about the short preseason due to the Club World Cup have sparked a debate about whether or not their first league match should be postponed. However, Chelsea and PSG, finalists in that tournament, are in an even worse situation and have less time to prepare.
On Tuesday, the Federation’s Second Instance Committee announced its decision on Real Madrid’s appeal against the postponement of their La Liga opener against Osasuna. The legal body rejected the appeal, meaning that the date set for the match remains August 19th.
This has caused anger at the club, which believes that the minimum rest period allowed for players has not been respected and that their health is being put at risk. All this in an atypical and historic summer following the Club World Cup.
Therefore, Xabi Alonso’s team, which began preseason training on Monday, August 4th, will have less preparation time than usual. In fact, they only have one friendly match scheduled, in Austria, on Tuesday, August 12th, against WSG Tirol. In total, there are 16 days between the start of preseason and the match against Osasuna, just over two weeks to prepare for an entire season. For their part, 26 days have passed since their elimination on July 9th to this past Monday.
However, what about the rest of the Club World Cup semifinalists and finalists? How much rest have they had? How much time do they have until their first official match? Do they have any friendlies?
PSG and Chelsea, with less time to rest, kick off earlier
First, Fluminense must be excluded from the comparison, as the Brazilian championship is structured differently from European competitions. Furthermore, ‘Flu’ returned to competition on July 17th, just nine days after their elimination from the tournament.
PSG and Chelsea were the finalists on Sunday, July 13th. With the world crown under their belts for the Blues, both teams officially began their vacations on the 14th.
The English team had 22 days off until Monday, August 4th, exceeding the 21 days required by FIFA regulations. However, Enzo Maresca’s players will make their official competitive debut earlier. They will do so on August 17th against Crystal Palace, making it 13 days of preseason. In addition, they have two previous friendlies scheduled: one on the 8th against Bayer Leverkusen (just four days after starting their preseason) and the other on the 10th against Milan.
Things are even more bizarre on the other side. PSG returns to training on Wednesday, August 6th, 24 days after the Club World Cup final. However, Luis Enrique’s team’s first official test comes just one week later, on August 13th, with a title at stake in a single match: the European Super Cup final against Tottenham. In addition, the Parisians have no friendlies scheduled to date and will make their Ligue 1 debut just four days after that final, on the same Sunday.
Undoubtedly, the three teams involved are right in their complaints or requests, but the reality is that the players are giving their all and the schedule is becoming increasingly crowded, to the point where competitions are almost overlapping with each other and with hardly any rest.
