Dani Carvajal and Pedri Gonzalez are the latest to visit the treatment room, victims of the relentless fixture pile-up in elite football. Knee injuries continue to plague Real Madrid, while muscular problems are hitting Barcelona hard.
Elite football is starting to look more and more like the NBA when you glance at the calendar. The relentless schedule — packed with club fixtures and international breaks — is wearing down players’ bodies. And the most telling examples can be found in Real Madrid’s knees and Barcelona’s muscles.
Recent events make that clear. Dani Carvajal and Pedri González are the latest casualties for the Merengues and Blaugrana respectively. The Real Madrid captain’s latest setback revealed the presence of a loose body in his right knee after initial medical tests.
As for Barcelona’s midfield prodigy, the medical report confirmed a tear in the distal biceps femoris of his left leg. Both absences are major blows for Luis de la Fuente, who will have to do without them for Spain’s upcoming matches against Georgia and Turkey on the road to the 2026 World Cup.
Three matches a week — A relentless pace
The two giants of Spanish football are constantly operating at a pace of three matches a week. The physical overload, combined with the emotional strain that comes with elite competition, leads to chronic fatigue and constant exposure to injury risk.
Looking back, one of the most striking examples is Éder Militão, who admitted he even considered retiring after suffering anterior cruciate ligament ruptures in both knees. That same ordeal now looms over Dani Carvajal.
At Barcelona, Dani Olmo and Robert Lewandowski are finally beginning to see the light after lengthy injury spells. But now it’s Pedri González back on the treatment table, yet another victim of football’s unforgiving calendar — as if the only goal were to fill the month with as many fixtures as possible.
