REAL MADRID
How Real Madrid could end up playing 72 games in a season
Real Madrid could play 72 games in 334 days in what would be a simply unsustainable calendar.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 2024-25 season for Real Madrid: one in which there could be 72 games in eleven months, a frenzy over 334 days. Starting on August 14 and ending on July 13, it would be an exhausting marathon that has the club shaking their head in disbelief.
“It is unfeasible,” said Carvajal in an enormous exercise of self-control and restraint. Until mid-July, they would play a game every 4.5 days. There are ten more games than last season across seven competitions; “unless the players stand up, it is a lost battle”, admitted Guardiola.
Real Madrid’s 2024-25 calendar breakdown
| Tournament | Dates | Matches | Extra matches |
|---|---|---|---|
| UEFA Super Cup | August 14 | 1 | |
| LaLiga | August 18-May 25 | 38 | |
| Champions League | September 17-May 31 | 17 | +4 |
| Intercontinental Cup | December 18 | 1 | +1 |
| Copa del Rey | January 4-April 26 | 6 | |
| Spanish Supercup | January 8-January 12 | 2 | |
| Club World Cup | June 15-July 13 | 7 | +5 |
| Total days: 334 | 72 | +10 |
How will the soccer tournaments change for this season?
There are ten more games next season: four in the new Champions League, the resurgence of the Intercontinental Cup and five in the new Club World Cup. The rest of the competitions remain as they were.
With the old calendar in Europe, everything would conclude on May 31 with the 2025 Champions League final, but that date could well become... July 13 (!) The turnaround of games is almost the same (every 4.7 days to every 4.5), but the season will go on for more than an extra month.
The new Champions League presents the possibility of playing four more matches: the group stage changes from six to eight and the Round of 32 has been introduced for those who do not finish at the top of the table. The Intercontinental Cup will be played in December, but the Champions League champion goes directly to the final, where a team from a previous round awaits (Auckland City, Pachuca and the Asian Champions League winners, African Champions League winners and Copa Libertadores winners).
And finally, the new Club World Cup, a huge point of stress on the calendar: it will have a 32-team format and will be played every four years, starting in 2025. What used to be a two-game competition in February becomes seven in June-July.
“The level of the matches will drop”
“After this season (55 games, of which Madrid played 41), I feel more energetic than ever. But seeing what’s coming next year... with a Super Cup outside of Spain, a Club World Cup that takes you another month away from home and a different Champions League. It is an unfeasible schedule and the level of the matches will drop because it is impossible to keep him playing every three days”, Carvajal admitted during the Euros.
“It is unsustainable. Those in charge should take matters into their own hands, but here everyone thinks about themselves: LaLiga, Federation, UEFA, FIFA... and the players don’t mean anything. Now we have a new Club World Cup and a Champions League with more games, when the solution to so many injuries should be to reduce games”. This was Carlo Ancelotti in November 2023.
“It is not a salary problem, because if you improve the quality of the show, the salaries can be the same or better. But yes, players and coaches would have no problem lowering our salaries if they give us a schedule that improves our health,” the Italian added.
“Unless the players stand up, it is a lost battle”
One of the toughest people on the topic of the jam-packed calendar was Pep Guardiola. “They make you go to Asia or the United States to play very tough matches, derbies, big fixtures. Players get injured and will continue to get injured because ‘the show must go on’.
“If Courtois is not there, then there will be someone else. If Militão is not there, then there will be someone else. If De Bruyne is not there, then there will be someone else. It is a losing battle unless the players stand up and say ‘we are not playing’. No UEFA, FIFA meetings, nothing. Either they stand up, or it’s a battle we’ve lost. The institutions don’t care. If one player is not there, another will be put in their place. Guardiola’s tired? Someone else will come instead.”
The anger with the new calendar goes further than the Santiago Bernabéu: Chelsea, Bayern and Atlético de Madrid feel the same way and this is increasingly spreading among fans. Although they enjoy the games, they understand that it is a crazy decision when it comes to player fitness.
Also, if the quality is worse, football ends up being less fun for the viewer. At Real Madrid they are angry, calling the new calendar “incomprehensible”. This is the reality of modern football, ladies and gentlemen, a season is approaching that could reach have 72 games in 334 days.