Real Madrid face excruciating schedule moving forward

More chaos awaits

It doesn’t get any easier from there for Real Madrid, as the Champions League returns in the third week of February. A flurry of challenges fly their way, as they play Liverpool at Anfield on February 21, before the Madrid Derby against Atletico Madrid on February 26. Real Betis and Espanyol come next before Liverpool come to the Santiago Bernabeu on the March 15 for the second leg of the Round of 16 tie and a potentially title-deciding El Clasico against Barcelona at the Nou Camp awaits just 4 days later on March 19.

It definitely gets tougher before it gets easier, and Carlo Ancelotti’s plan most certainly cannot be to go all out. The constant wear and tear from playing every three days, travelling and training bound by a congested schedule will eventually show. Certain players might not perform at the same level and some might even pick up injuries. We saw shades of this problem in the weeks leading up to the World Cup break.

Ancelotti, Antonio Pintus and the rest of the club’s staff have a job on their hands before entering the most intense part of their season.

The conditioning of the players will have to be taken care of on a game-to-game basis, particularly preserving the energy levels of the senior players. This will mean that Real Madrid could have to field two completely unidentical line ups in successive games to still be able to stand a chance and compete in all five competitions.

Those players deeper down the pecking order will get minutes but this comes at the greater risk of dropping important points especially in the La Liga title race. Alas, it’s a risk Ancelotti will have to take to still be able to have his best players ready for the biggest of tests. Like he showed at times last season though, sticking with a consistent staring XI is a risk of a sizeable measure that could potentially reap great rewards in the long run.

It is clear that Ancelotti is taking every competition seriously. As reported by the club’s official website, he said about the Copa del Rey:

"“I’ve won it once and that shows you that it’s an important competition for us. It’s not the most important, that’s the Champions League. Wearing the badge on this jersey means you have to respect every competition and win as many as you can. We have to look to win it”."

Playing for Real Madrid means you have to compete for every trophy that you play in. But also the club’s priorities are set out straight at the beginning of each season. This season will be no different to any other, and Ancelotti will aim to lead his team to domestic, European and intercontinental success while playing football of the greatest order.