Why Real Madrid’s First 2025–26 La Liga Match Could Be Postponed | OneFootball

Real Madrid have reportedly requested to reschedule their opening La Liga match of the 2025–26 season.

While 18 of the 20 La Liga clubs enjoyed a summer off following the end of the 2024–25 season, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid traveled to the United States to compete in the Club World Cup. Diego Simeone’s men did not make it past the group stage, but Real Madrid are semifinalists.

The turnaround from the Club World Cup to the upcoming La Liga season gives Real Madrid minimal time to rest and recover before the start of another grueling competition. In fact, if Los Blancos make the Club World Cup final, they will have less than six weeks between the end of this summer’s competition and the start of their first domestic campaign under Xabi Alonso.

According to ESPN, the tight schedule prompted Real Madrid to ask for their first match of the 2025–26 season to be postponed. The club is due to play Osasuna on Aug. 19 at the Santiago Bernabéu.

The report reveals the Spanish Players’ Union sent a letter to the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), La Liga, Real Madrid and Osasuna highlighting the minimum of six weeks required between the two tournaments. The document focused on the “importance of the rest and a proper preseason” for players to avoid preventable overload and injuries.

The request comes amid a growing conversation surrounding the sport’s expanded match calendar. More and more players and managers are speaking out against the lack of rest for players at the biggest clubs in the world. Real Madrid have played 67 matches (and counting) this season alone, not to mention the international fixtures players feature in as well.

Should Real Madrid’s La Liga opener unfold as planned, Alonso’s men will have to face Osasuna on Aug. 19 and then Real Oviedo five days later. The two matches would come just five weeks after the Club World Cup concludes.