The Gruelling '24/7 Football' Schedule La Liga Teams Could Face When Season Resumes
Teams in Spain could be facing matches on every day of the week if and when the season resumes, as reports outline an ambitious plan to conclude the campaign as soon as possible.
As with most of Europe, top level football in Spain is still at least a few weeks away from resuming, but there is an optimism - namely from league president Javier Tebas - that the La Liga season will not have to be curtailed, as has already happened in France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
League chiefs have been working round the clock to ensure that the remaining 11 rounds of fixtures can be contested, and after it was reported last month that La Liga and La Liga 2 players were allowed to return to individual training, The Independent say that group training is set to resume from Monday.
❗ Official — LaLiga has given all clubs the green light to progress from individual training to training in groups of up to 10 players next Monday. pic.twitter.com/JO06oVL2aI
— Barça Universal (@BarcaUniversal) May 16, 2020
That's a major step towards the resumption of the sport, but even if authorities do give the green light in the foreseeable future, there are a number of logistical challenges facing the league.
Primarly, there is the issue of how to fit 11 rounds of fixtures into a sufficiently short space of time to allow for a pre-season ahead of the 2020/21 campaign. One solution - put forward as fact by AS - will see players worked harder than ever before.
The Spanish outlet claim that the plan to conclude the season will see La Liga matches contested on every day of the week, with individual clubs given just a 72 hour break between fixtures.
Matches will be allowed to play until 23.00 local time in the country's warmest territories, while games taking place on weekdays will kick off at 19.30 at the latest.
Taking Tebas' 12 June restart date at face value, this timeline would allow the season to be concluded - at the very earliest - by 15 July.
That would allow for a very short pre-season break ahead of next season resuming - but those teams with outstanding European fixtures to play might be in for a fright when the summer schedule is laid out.
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