Real Madrid are considering granting players short breaks during the season due to concerns over an increasingly congested fixture schedule, manager Carlo Ancelotti revealed on Saturday. Speaking ahead of their LaLiga opener against Mallorca, Ancelotti highlighted the growing strain on players due to the ever-increasing number of domestic and international matches.
Having secured both the LaLiga and Champions League titles last season, Real Madrid are now competing for up to seven trophies in the 2024-25 campaign. Ancelotti emphasized that the club may need to make adjustments to safeguard the players’ health and performance levels. His coaching staff is already planning for the 2025-26 season, with an eye on the added pressures of the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in June and July across Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
“The players need rest, they need holidays and we are thinking about giving individual holidays to the players during the season,” Ancelotti told a news conference on Saturday.
“We are thinking about giving in-season breaks, give a week off for a player so he can go and stay with his family, especially international players, who have very little rest because they usually don’t get even a day’s holiday in international breaks.
“We are assessing it with the medical staff and the physical preparation…” said Ancelotti as quoted by Reuters.
Following their UEFA Super Cup victory against Atalanta on Wednesday, Real Madrid will compete in LaLiga, the Champions League, Copa del Rey, the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, the FIFA Intercontinental Cup, and the newly revamped FIFA Club World Cup in the United States.
“At the moment we still don’t even know the date (of the Club World Cup), same with the Intercontinental. We are bidding for seven titles but we still don’t know when or how,” Ancelotti said.
“The 2025-26 season might start earlier because of the World Cup, so we have to plan accordingly starting this season.”
“For example, when Vinicius Jr comes back after playing with Brazil, instead of playing in LaLiga, he rests for three or four days, he goes on holiday and then he comes back.”
“That’s the only way. Normally those players train, even if they don’t play. But we’re going to take that away, let them do what they want on those days. That’s what we’re going to do.”
The congested football calendar has sparked widespread concern and debate in recent years. In May, the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) warned FIFA that players were prepared to strike if the overload of fixtures continued. Global players’ union FIFPRO, along with the PFA and the World Leagues Association (WLA), have also threatened legal action if FIFA persists in expanding tournaments and introducing new competitions.