Real Madrid face excruciating schedule moving forward
By Sahel Kazi
Real Madrid’s 2023 has started off just the way their 2022 ended – on a winning note. The January transfer window is here but Carlo Ancelotti’s team are not expected to find themselves heavily interested in attracting any big names this time around.
The Italian in his recent press conferences has appeared to confirm the same, implying that his current squad look to prepare for their upcoming contests and that that’s the only business keeping them busy.
Now, that would leave a lot of fans worried, due to the congested fixture list coming up and the injury issues that the club have already had to face in this campaign. Real Madrid partake in no less than 16 games of competitive football over the course of a little more than two months starting tomorrow.
That, even for a roster full of European champions, will mean having to cover an insanely intense schedule. During this period, Real Madrid will compete for the La Liga, Champions League, Spanish Super Cup, Club World Cup and the Copa del Rey, participation in the next round of which was confirmed by their most recent victory at fourth tier Cacereno.
Real Madrid face a tough series of important games
The semi-final of the Spanish Super Cup will see Real Madrid match up against Valencia in Riyadh later this week, before possibly competing for the trophy versus either of Barcelona or Real Betis.
The Club World Cup in Morocco offers a new set of challenges, with the time table clashing with two of Los Blancos’ scheduled La Liga fixtures. The match at home to Valencia is scheduled for February 2, three days before the team depart for Morocco.
They then travel to Mallorca on February 5, less than 72 hours after the previous match and just in time to be able to fly to Morocco the same evening since their presence in the country is mandatory three days prior to their opening Club World Cup match, on February 8, is played, according to FIFA rules as reported by Mundo Deportivo.
Real Madrid ought to stay in Morocco till the February 11 at the very least regardless of the result of their semi-final, given the fact that the Club World Cup now has a third-place playoff. The February 11 game at the Santiago Bernabeu versus Elche will most definitely have to be postponed to sometime before the next February 19 game at Osasuna.
Should the RFEF decide on playing the Mallorca game at an early kick-off, the team will still be able to fly to Morocco the same evening. Otherwise, the possibility of that match being pushed back to the February 12-19 week is very real. Worst case scenario, that match on February 5 goes ahead as scheduled and the club ask FIFA for permission to fly the next day.