Madrid derby kicks off with teams on uneven footing | OneFootball

The first heart-stopping match of the season is approaching. The date has already been set for the Atlético – Real Madrid derby, corresponding to the seventh round of La Liga, which will take place next Saturday, September 27 at 16:15. And, as is typical of these kinds of clashes, the first controversy favoring the Merengues has already arisen: Cholo Simeone’s team will have one day less rest than their eternal rival. But that’s not all…

Real Madrid played their match against Levante yesterday, Tuesday the 23rd at 21:30; while Atlético will do the same against Rayo today, Wednesday the 24th, at the same time. In addition to the fact that the rojiblancos will not be able to meet the minimum 72 hours of rest that the Spanish Footballers’ Association (AFE) considers “fundamental and non-negotiable” for players, the blancos will be able to rest an extra day. This reignites the controversy and repeats what happened last season, when Real Madrid was able to rest not one, but two days more than Atlético ahead of the first derby of the domestic championship.

REAL MADRID ALREADY COMPLAINED LAST SEASON

The Madrid club already raised a fuss about these situations last season. After one of the Champions League matches against Atlético itself, the Merengues had only 66 hours of rest before facing Villarreal in La Liga. With that situation, controversy surrounded the Santiago Bernabéu as they looked for someone to blame, and it intensified even more when Carlo Ancelotti furiously declared in a press conference that if his players did not have at least three days of rest between matches, they would not play another match under those circumstances.

As a result, the AFE echoed the complaint and published a statement referring to the agreement reached with the Royal Spanish Football Federation in 2020: rest is fundamental and a minimum of 72 hours is necessary. Well, as of today, neither Real Madrid nor the AFE have spoken out about a situation that will leave Atleti at a disadvantage with just 64 hours and 15 minutes of rest between matches.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.