Madrid, annoyed with the match schedule against Granada

LaLiga has announced the schedules of matchday 14 in Primera with controversy. Real Madrid will have to play against Granada in Los Cármenes on Sunday, November 21 at 4:15 p.m. The schedule has caused discomfort in the white club because the following Wednesday (November 24) Ancelotti’s team has a Champions League commitment in which they face a long trip (more than four hours of flight) to Tiraspol (Moldova) to face the Sheriff. A match in which Madrid can play their qualifying options for the round of 16. Atlético, which on the same Wednesday host Milan at the Metropolitano, host Osasuna on Saturday afternoon at the Wanda …

For years an unwritten rule has been respected whereby teams that had commitments in the Champions League on Tuesday and Wednesday advanced their commitments to Saturday to have more rest time. But that rule has been broken this season. The conflict with the return of the CONMEBOL international teams blew up that custom and LaLiga has taken advantage of it to schedule matches on Sunday for teams that then play in the Champions League on Wednesday. And thus alleviates the Saturday program. With five representatives in the Champions League, if there is no confrontation between them, there are not enough slots to schedule everyone’s games on Saturday without overlapping.

Madrid already had to play a league game on Sunday before playing in the Champions League on Wednesday. It was on the fourth day, in the match against Celta, which marked the return of football to the Bernabéu. But that schedule was motivated by the problem with the South American internationals.. Other teams have played on Sunday without being motivated by the ravages of that problem. Barcelona played on Sunday September 26 at the Camp Nou against Levante when on Wednesday 29 they had to visit Benfica. Atlético will ‘suffer’ this weekend. This Sunday the 31st he will host Betis at the Wanda and on Wednesday (November 3) he will play at Anfield against Liverpool. It is precisely the Verdiblancos who have also suffered the change of criteria: with the conflict of the internationals, they have played two games on Monday when on Thursday they faced a Europa League match.

The whites are now immersed in another marathon. Between the initial whistle of the Clásico and the end of Saturday’s game against Elche, not six days will have passed. The match against Elche has been scheduled in the first hour of this Saturday (14:00) when the Champions League match on Wednesday (November 3) against Shakhtar is at home, with no trip involved.