Real Madrid to undergo ‘mini pre-season’ under Pintus with no midweek fixtures for two weeks | OneFootball

One of the major complaints held against Real Madrid over the past year has been their inability to compete on equal footing physically against their opponents for the entire 90 minutes of a game.

The issue persisted towards the final phase of Carlo Ancelotti’s tenure as manager and continued once Xabi Alonso took over. At the same time, there have also been numerous injury problems that have plagued the squad.

All of this prompted the club hierarchy to bring former fitness coach Antonio Pintus back into the first-team dynamics the moment Alonso was sacked and Alvaro Arbeloa took over the reins.

‘Mini pre-season’ under Pintus

Now, according to AS, Real Madrid will undergo a ‘mini pre-season’ of sorts, led by Pintus, as they find themselves with two weeks without midweek matches with no Copa del Rey commitments.

“We need him,” Arbeloa said about Pintus after the defeat against Albacete, in line with the feeling among the directors.

Arbeloa trusts Pintus to help the team. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

However, the immediate demands of other competitions meant there was not enough room for the Italian to make his mark.

Now, after six matches, with fewer training sessions than press conferences, and more recovery sessions than tactical work, Real Madrid will finally get some breathing space.

Two weeks without playing midweek. First, two days off. Then, starting tomorrow it will be Pintus territory.

Contrary to what has been usual, the next match will not come in two or three days, but in seven. Indeed, after their trip to Valencia this weekend, Real Madrid will play Real Sociedad only a week later, during which work will be done on the team’s fitness.

These will be days of fine-tuning – crucial in terms of adapting to the new coach and key in Pintus’ domain, whose return to the forefront has been well received by the players.