The Qatar World Cup marks a calendar with a very football Christmas
Vinicius and Araujo, during the Bernabéu classic. /
The universal contest next fall leaves little room to negotiate a course that will begin on August 12 and will only have two free dates
With five days still to go before the end of this League that has become a walk for Real Madrid, the competition schedule for next season is already official, with only the draw to define the matches remaining. Although it is already a tradition that the Higher Sports Council (CSD) has to mediate between LaLiga and the Federation (FEF) to reach a consensus, this time the World Cup in Qatar left no room for discussion. The great universal contest will take place in the middle of autumn, from November 21 to December 18, and that forces the days to be compressed to the maximum and makes major modifications unfeasible despite the fact that the FIFA dates have been reduced to only two, in September and March, in addition to the World Cup.
The League will begin the second weekend of August in both the First and Second divisions and will end on June 4 in the highest category, a week earlier than in the silver division, not counting the subsequent 'playoffs'. In order to fit in the World Cup, the regularity tournament will put a point and followed on November 10, Thursday, so the national teams will not have even two weeks of concentration. And as soon as the controversial Qatari macro-event ended, they returned to the competition with the dispute of one of the Copa del Rey.
The most striking thing is that, in the purest style of the English Premier League, always admired by its organization, Spanish fans will enjoy a Christmas full of football. Between December 29 and January 8, matches will be played on nine days out of eleven possible. And the most innovative thing is that the last three days of the year there will be football, although on New Year's Eve only until the 4:15 p.m. slot. Therefore, that day there will be an important derby since geographical proximity is mandatory for the players to get home for dinner. And then there is the Cup, with the round of 16, and return to the League on the first weekend of the year. A blessed madness.
Also noteworthy is the fact that none of the categories will be stopped for the Super Cup in Spain, or rather, in Saudi Arabia. From January 11, the four qualified for the Rubi and Geri tournament will be released, who will play it between 13 and 15. Those four clubs will recover that day on February 1, which is free.
In Second they will not stop during the World Cup, but the clubs will rest on that day at the end of the year. Today, without taking into account the summer transfer market, the calculation is that this will affect five or six players from the entire category, who will be in Qatar and not defending the interests of the entities that pay them. Recently, the African Cup affected 17 players and the competitions did not stop in the First Division, the Second Division or in the KO tournament, whose final will be on April 29.
There will be no less than six interweekly days, in October, November, December, April and two in May; January will be, as always, above all the great month of the Cup, and there will be only two wildcard dates to catch up on possible postponed matches: the already mentioned February 1 and Wednesday April 5, at the gates of the Week Holy.
Europe squeezes
As for Europe, the Champions League will begin on September 7 and will be condensed to finish the group stage on November 2, before the World Cup. After a long winter break, return to competition in February, already with the eighth. The final of the maximum continental competition will be on June 10, later than usual and a great climax to a strenuous course.
Before, as an appetizer, turns for the finals of the Europa League and the Conference League, on May 31 and June 7, respectively. Before, as an appetizer, turns for the finals of the Europa League and the Conference League, on May 31 and June 7, respectively.
