Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman has taken aim at the tightly congested football calendar this season and has claimed it is “killing our players”, as per Marca.
The current campaign has started over a month later than was originally planned due to the ramifications of the Covid-19 pandemic, meaning last season was only concluded in August for teams – like the Blaugrana – competing in European competition.
That ensured that the club only had six weeks between their two campaigns and has also led to the Catalan giants having 20 matches between 27 September and 22 December this campaign – a timeframe of just 86 days.
In reality, the demand of players is even higher – that spell has been broken up by two international breaks, which not only involves plenty of travelling but also playing as many as four or five additional games per player.
Barcelona news has been dominated by their poor form in La Liga matches, yet they have won all five of their European games to date and Koeman’s side conclude their Champions League group this week against Juventus.
The Blaugrana then have league matches against Levante, Real Sociedad, Valencia and Real Valladolid before Christmas, and will conclude their 2020 calendar campaign at home to Eibar.
