La Liga makes it difficult for Real Madrid
Today (August 4), Real Madrid officially gathered at Valdebebas, starting preparations for the 2025/26 season.
Instead of the usual excitement in the early days of the season, the atmosphere at the headquarters of the 15-time Champions League/Cup C1 champion team is filled with worry and frustration.
The reason is nothing more than a tight fixture list and the strangest pre-season plan in the club's history.
After the FIFA Club World Cup semi-final against PSG on July 9, Real Madrid players had only 24 days off.
That's a relatively reasonable amount of time to recover physically, but not enough to prepare tactics, practice playing style or build long-term fitness – especially when Real Madrid have just changed coaches, with Xabi Alonso taking over the team from Carlo Ancelotti.
According to recommendations from FIFPro – the global players' union – teams participating in the Club World Cup should have three weeks off, followed by three weeks of training.
For Real Madrid, they only have 15 days to practice before entering the first official match: against Osasuna at Bernabeu on August 19.
What made Xabi Alonso's coaching staff and Real Madrid's leadership "hot under the collar" was not only the limited time, but also the outright refusal from La Liga when the club requested to postpone round 1.
Ironically, rival Osasuna also agreed to this proposal, meaning there was absolutely no dispute.
However, the Competition Committee's sole judge still rejected it, citing the lack of specific regulations on the length of pre-season.
Within Real Madrid, it is believed that this is not simply an administrative decision.
At Valdebebas, everyone has their own opinion: the long-standing cold relationship between “Los Blancos” and Javier Tebas – La Liga president – as well as the league's unfriendly attitude towards the Club World Cup have led to this situation.
A conundrum for Alonso
The question is: if Atletico Madrid had also reached the semi-finals like Real Madrid, would La Liga have acted differently?
For coach Xabi Alonso , these non-professional troubles are turning his first pre-season at Real into an extremely difficult problem.
The original plan of the former Bayer Leverkusen coach was to start the La Liga campaign from round 2, against Oviedo on August 24, and have at least 3 friendly matches to test the squad and get used to the new tactical system.
The harsh reality is that he only has one official friendly match left, against WSG Tirol in Innsbruck (Austria) on August 12.
Alonso's only hope now is to organise a few more closed practice sessions with local clubs in Madrid (either amateur or youth teams).
Quietly, Real Madrid are entering the new season after the most intense journey in their history: 68 games in the 2024/25 season. That is the highest number of games the team has ever experienced.
Now, the squad has just 40 days to rest and restart – the shortest period since 1987, when La Liga switched to a 20-team format.
Newcomers Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dean Huijsen and Alvaro Carreras need time to adapt, even though the first two have participated in the Club World Cup; young talent Franco Mastantuono will only join the team from August 14 (when he turns 18).
With Jude Bellingham missing the first two months of the season after shoulder surgery, Rodrygo's future uncertain, and the fitness of players who were seriously injured last season still a big issue, it's clear that Alonso is facing a less than ideal start.
Real Madrid officially returned today, but the shadow of an unprepared summer, combined with the rigidity of the domestic football system, is casting a dark cloud over the early days of the new dynasty.
Xabi Alonso has reason to be unhappy, because Real's toughest season has not ended, but is actually just getting longer.
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/real-madrid-hoi-quan-mau-thuan-la-liga-va-rac-roi-cho-xabi-alonso-2428543.html
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