To understand why, a quick glance at the European and La Liga calendars reveals that Carlo Ancelotti's troops have less time to recover after each Champions League matchday than Barcelona. The Real Madrid coach is far from pleased in this regard.
Both Ancelotti and Cristiano Ronaldo already expressed their discontent in the build-up to 'El Clásico' which was played at 18:00 on Saturday 25th October. 'Los Blancos' had played at Anfield just three days earlier on the Wednesday while Barça's match was at home to Ajax on the Tuesday.
Real Madrid came out victorious in 'El Clásico' and no more was said about the scheduling. History seems to be repeating itself, however. Barça played APOEL on Tuesday while Real's clash in Basel was on Wednesday. To make matters worse, airport closures meant the group was unable to return to the Spanish capital until Thursday. Now the LFP has decided that Real Madrid will play Málaga away on Saturday while Barcelona have an extra day to prepare for their trip to Valencia on Sunday.
2015 will begin in the same vein
The club does not understand the criteria which the LFP uses and is starting to tire of the situation, which will be compounded in the new year when - assuming both Madrid sides qualify for the next round of the Copa del Rey - Atlético will enjoy more preparation time ahead of what looks likely to be a massive Madrid derby.
0 comments:
Post a Comment