MADRID, 26 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid are rushing their last days of rest before returning to action at the beginning of January, when they will begin a very demanding stretch of two and a half months, where in addition to strengthening their options in LaLiga EA Sports, they will play for a title like the Super Cup, being able to fight for another like the Copa del Rey and not saying goodbye to the dream of the Champions League at the first opportunity.
The three teams are currently fighting with Girona for the league title and will have as an added obstacle to the great resistance of the team coached by Míchel, a theoretically more loaded and demanding calendar, although it will also largely depend on their path in the Copa del Rey. King.
And the 'ko tournament' will enter the fray for Madridistas, Blaugranas and Rojiblancos from the first week of January and will open a stretch for them where, if they reach the cup semi-finals, they would hardly have any room for respite, although since the campaign 13-14, the three of them have not managed to be together in the penultimate round of this competition.
In total, from the beginning of January until the international break in March, eleven league matches will be played, four Cup rounds (three single-leg matches and the semi-finals in a double round), the round of 16 of the Champions League and the 'Final'. to Four' of the Spanish Super Cup.
When LaLiga EA Sports resumes its activity on January 2, there will be activity during the week until March 15 when the crossings of the European competitions conclude, so Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid will have to maintain a high level of concentration and of physique to reach all these objectives in the best possible position.
Furthermore, all of them will have the added bonus of fighting for an official title such as the Spanish Super Cup, whose 'Final Four' in Saudi Arabia is located between the 10th, date of the first semi-final (Real Madrid-Atlético), and the 14th. , when the final will be played between the winners of the derby and the FC Barcelona-Osasuna on the 11th.
THE COPERAS SEMIFINALS ALONG WITH THE RETURN OF THE CHAMPIONS
After the dispute of matchday 19 of Primera between January 2 and 4, the 1/16 round of Copa del Rey will be held between January 5 and 7, while the bulk of matchday 20 will take place in the weekend of the Spanish Super Cup, with its four teams postponing their matches to January 30 (Barça-Osasuna) and January 31 (Atlético-Rayo), and to February 1 (Getafe-Real Madrid). The 'January slope' is completed with two more possible Cup matches, the 1/8 round scheduled between the 16th and 18th, and the 1/4 round the following week.
If Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid have survived this first stretch, February will bring them more demands with the Copa del Rey semi-finals, already round-trip and scheduled for February 6 and 7 and 27 and 28 respectively, and the return of the Champions League. The merengue team plays against RB Leipzig in the first leg of the round of 16 on the 13th, with the colchonero and the 'culer' facing Inter and Naples on the 20th and 21st, respectively. The second chapters would be on March 6 for Real Madrid, the 12th for Barça and the 13th for Atlético.
In this way, without counting a hypothetical final of the Super Cup and in the event that the three reached the semifinals of the 'k.o. tournament', they would accumulate, from the beginning of January until the international break at the end of March, 19 games in two and a half months, 20 if they reach the title fight in Saudi Arabia. Girona, in the best case scenario for their interests, would play 16, in addition to having 'free' days in February and March when their rivals have the Champions League.
As for direct league duels in this period of time between these theoretical four candidates for the title, Atlético will face Girona on January 3, still within the first round, Real Madrid on the first day of February and FC Barcelona in the last one before the break (March 16-17).
Carlo Ancelotti's team, for its part, will have a tough stretch of the calendar since after receiving its neighbor, it will do the same with Míchel's team the following week and just before visiting Leipzig, while Xavi Hernández's team will only will have the trip to Civitas Metropolitano.
From this burden, a fifth in contention could also take advantage like Athletic Club, fifth classified and still far from Real Madrid and Girona, co-leaders. The Biscayan team is ten points behind both and only three behind Blaugranas and Colchoneros, and could take advantage of all the wear and tear to get into the fight, also knowing that the Copa del Rey generates a lot of attention and that its squad is not that long. , with the addition of losing a toned Iñaki Williams for several weeks for the African Cup.