Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti on Friday complained about calendar congestion, saying that his players will have only 72 hours of rest since their Champions League round-of-16 4-2 penalty shootout victory over Atlético Madrid before facing Villarreal on Saturday in LaLiga action.
“I don’t understand why we’re playing on Saturday, and I hope one day we can change this kind of scheduling,” Ancelotti said. “Television rights and money come first, and the last thing on anyone’s mind is the players’ recovery.”
The Madrid rivals played a hard-fought 120 minutes on Wednesday night, with Real Madrid progressing to the quarterfinals vs. Arsenal after the controversial penalty shootout at the Metropolitano.
“This has been a stressful season and it is because of the calendar [congestion],” Ancelotti said.
Ancelotti gave Vinícius Júnior a day off from training on Friday, saying that the player would be ready against Villarreal but needed the extra day of rest to recover.
“There’s nothing wrong with Vinícius, he is just tired so we have given him an extra day of rest, but he’ll be back against Villarreal,” Ancelotti said. “Vinícius is an unquestionable player for us.
“For me, he plays better or worse sometimes, he might have ups and downs, but he’s unquestionable. I will never doubt him regarding his performance, even if he fails sometimes. But he’s been so important for this club, and that’s why I can not question him.”
Regarding UEFA’s statement on Thursday saying they will “enter discussions with FIFA and IFAB” over a possible change to the rule that saw Julián Álvarez’s penalty disallowed in Wednesday’s game, Ancelotti said he the matter was beyond his control.
“I did not realise that and that game is over for us,” he said. “We are happy to be in the quarterfinal and not interested in everything that is happening around that game. We are only focused on tomorrow’s game, which closes a stage.
“We’re still in the recovery period, we have to take that into account as we great ready to face a tough opponent,” Ancelotti said. “We have to play an intelligent game.”
The LaLiga schedule was more benevolent for Atlético Madrid, who get an extra day of rest as they face Barcelona on Sunday.
