Real Madrid promises that they will never play again with less than 72 hours of rest

It seems not a week goes by without Real Madrid complaining about something... although, this time, they are not complaining about conspiracy theories against them, but looking to protect their players' health. And the club, through their official TV channel, and later through their coach Carlo Ancelotti on press conference, said that they will refuse to play a match without at least 72 hours of rest time between games.

Last week, they played a Champions League game on Wednesday at 21:00 CET (that went to extra-time and penalties) and on Saturday they played a Liga game at 18:30 CET against Villareal. They won both, on Saturday thanks to an inspired Kylian Mbappé, but exhaustion was clear among the players, most of which will now travel to their home countries to play with their national teams.

"We have to thank these players for their monumental effort since January 3rd. Today is the last time we are going to play a game without 72 hours' rest. We twice asked LaLiga to change it and nothing happened", said Ancelotti. However, according to LaLiga, via Relevo, Real Madrid did not ask for a change before the times were announced, and when they tried to ask them to change them it was out of date. Later, Javier Tebas, LaLiga president, responded on a Tweet that Emilio (Butragueño, Real Madrid's executive) had actually asked for Liga game to be played on Saturday March 28 at 21:00 instead that at 16:15, giving them less hours before their following game on Tuesday April 1.

More rest between games is the only way to prevent more injuries, experts say

The usual cross-fire of accusations followed between the club and LaLiga, but what it sure is that Real Madrid has the right to complain for not letting their players rest enough, as medical experts say that at least 72 hours is the recommended time for muscle recovery, which is the best and only way to prevent the increasing number of injuries in football, which endanger players' health, according to a physiotherapist asked by Relevo.

In fact, on Monday FC Barcelona has announced they will appeal the Spanish Federation decision to host the postponed Barça vs. Osasuna game on March 27, which would be just 48 hours after Brazil vs. Uruguay and Brazil vs. Argentina matches (where Raphinha and Araújo play).

The Spanish Football Players' Association (AFE) published a statement, reminding that the criterion of at least 72 hours between matches is also set by the FIFPRO, the International Federation of Professional Footballers' Associations, and adds that in last weekend's matchday, four teams were forced to play with last than 72 hours of rest time due to their matches in European competition: Real Madrid (at Champions League) Real Sociedad, Athletic Club (at Europa League) and Real Betis (at Conference League).