EUROPEAN FOOTBALL

Real Madrid will have a terrible time scheduling after the World Cup

By Saptarshi Sarkar

Posted on December 21, 2022

Real now faces a brutal fixture calendar with that revelation, as they may play as many as 17 games in fewer than 60 days across four nations, according to MARCA. Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, announced on Friday that the FIFA Club World Cup 2022 will take place in Morocco from February 1 to February 11 of the following year.

Madrid will start their season on December 30 when they play Valladolid in La Liga, following the World Cup. They will start their Copa del Rey campaign a few days later before returning to La Liga play against Villarreal.

Following that, Los Blancos will go to Saudi Arabia for the Spanish Super Cup, where they will meet Valencia on January 11 in the semifinals and, if successful, the finals, four days later. Madrid will play a number of games in the Copa del Rey, should they advance, and La Liga after returning from the Super Cup assignment, up to the first week of February, when they are set to depart for Morocco for the FIFA Club World Cup.

The Merengues will have a Copa del Rey semifinal, the first-leg match against Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16, and a derby against Atletico Madrid waiting for them when they return from their trip to Africa if they have advanced.

Madrid may wind up playing as many as 17 games in four nations—Spain, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and England—in a period of fewer than two months. Manager Carlo Ancelotti will need to employ his full squad to get through this busy schedule in the early portions of the new year because some players are returning from World Cup duty.