Real Madrid escalated their complaints over scheduling on Saturday, with manager Carlo Ancelotti confirming the team will refuse to play in the future if their players aren’t given a minimum 72 hours’ rest between matches.
Madrid played city rivals, Atlético Madrid, in their Champions League round-of-16 second leg on Wednesday, a game which kicked off at 9 p.m. local time and lasted 120 minutes, plus a penalty shootout, ending at close to midnight.
Their next game was against Villarreal on Saturday in La Liga, with the match starting at 6.30 p.m. local time.
Ancelotti complained about the congested calendar on Friday — blaming “television rights and money” and saying “the last thing on anyone’s mind is the players’ recovery.”
Madrid went a step further on Saturday ahead of kickoff in Villarreal, with the club’s TV channel stating that “Real Madrid will ask for FIFA’s support … so that this never happens again.”
Following Madrid’s 2-1 win over Villarreal, Ancelotti confirmed the club’s stance.
“I think today is the last time that we’ll play a game before 72 hours,” he said. “We won’t do it again, without 72 hours of rest. We asked La Liga to change the time of the game twice, and they didn’t do anything. But this is the last time.”
Asked to confirm if the team would show up if a game was scheduled without 72 hours rest, he responded: “No, of course not.”
FIFA recommends a minimum of 72 hours’ rest between games, in order to protect players’ health. However timings are set by competition organizers, with La Liga determining kickoff times for league games in Spain.
Real Madrid’s title rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid have an additional day’s rest this weekend, facing off in a crucial La Liga game on Sunday evening.
Saturday’s win, courtesy of two goals from Kylian Mbappé, put Real Madrid three points clear of Barcelona at the top of the table, but having played two games more.
“I’m very proud of the players, it was a tricky game,” Ancelotti added. “And the opponent plays very well. We hung on, above all in the second half. The team was exhausted but that’s normal. It’s a victory that says a lot about this team and the resources in this squad.”
The busy fixture list has been a regular source of complaint among leading clubs and players in recent years, with the 2024-25 season being further extended by the newly expanded FIFA Club World Cup, which will take place between June 15 and July 13.
—ESPN
THE records may have slowed down as his goalscoring enters more human levels, but Erling Haaland reached another landmark in Manchester City’s 2-2 draw with Brighton on Saturday.
His penalty meant he reached 100 Premier League goal contributions (goals and assists combined) in just his 94th game.
The previous record-holder was Alan Shearer, who took 100 matches to reach that level.
Haaland, who joined City from Borussia Dortmund for £51.2m in June 2022, and Shearer, are the only players who reached the figure in their third season in the Premier League.
Shearer had played a few seasons in the old First Division that do not count towards this record.
Sergio Aguero, Thierry Henry, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Les Ferdinand and Matt le Tissier all managed it in their fourth seasons.
