“This is the last time that we play a match with less than 72 hours of rest. We asked the Liga to change the match schedule twice, but nothing was done. It's the last time “. Carlo Ancelotti's words after Real Madrid's victory in Villarreal left no doubt about Real Madrid's feelings with regard to the Liga. It must be said that earlier in the day already, the club had, via its media Real Madrid TValready announced that the team would strike the next time that it would not have at least 72 hours of rest between two games. Indeed, Real Madrid had less than 3 full rest days between the end of the match against Atlético Wednesday evening and the start of the duel against Villarreal on Saturday at 6.30 p.m.
Strong threats, while Real Madrid has already raised against the Liga several times this season, especially because of the arbitration, the Madrid, thus believing to be disadvantaged. A new page in this conflict between the capital's club in the Spanish championship, while Florentino Pérez and Javier Tebas have never hidden their animosity towards each other. He even says that President Madrid pushed to the Spanish government so that Barça can register Dani Olmo, just to annoy the boss of the Liga …
The cloth burns
Anyway, the liga did not hesitate to respond via the newspaper Marca. She said that Real Madrid has not requested a change of schedule, and that the 72 hours of rest between the matches are just a FIFA council and not an obligation. Tebas used his account X To respond to Ancelotti, with a touch of irony, explaining that Real Madrid just asked to shift another match which will prevent him from having 72 hours of rest as initially planned: “Carlo, I'm sure Emilio explained to you that the Liga has scheduled the next day match against Leganés at 4:15 p.m. so that you can have more rest before the Cup semi-final against Real Sociedad. But Emilio asked that the match be played at 9 p.m. – surely with your authorization – to help those who come back from the selections. And it's less than 72 hours between the final whistle and the start of half Tuesday! May the best qualify! Greetings (to follow) “.
For its part, the AFE, the Spanish players' union, has stored on the side of Real Madrid. “The association of Spanish footballers (AFE) considers that it is essential that players have at least 72 hours of rest between matches in order to preserve their state of health, both physical and mental. A criterion marked, moreover, by the recommendations of FIFPro, the International Federation of Associations of Professional Footballers, of which AFE is a founding member. As already agreed by AFE in 2020, both with the Spanish Royal Football Federation (RFEF) and with Laliga, following the health crisis, the minimum interval between matches to preserve the health of the players would be 72 hours. Given the increased risk of injury and deterioration due to post-match fatigue from which footballers suffer, for AFE, it has always been non-negotiable that players participating in two games per week have a recovery time between 72 and 96 hours “she said in a press release. Suffice to say that all of this should not calm things between La Liga and Real Madrid …
