Real Madrid appear to be back to their fittest following their late win over Valencia.
Los Blancos left it late at Mestalla to pull off a comeback win against a Valencia side who have started brightly this season.
Hugo Duro put the home side ahead in the 65th minute but two goals in two minutes on the 86th and 88th minutes respectively from Vinicius Jr and Karim Benzema saw Real Madrid take all three points.
And as Diario AS point out, it’s a clear signal of returning conditioning coach Antonio Pintus getting his wish.
Pintus returned to the club as part of Carlo Ancelotti’s appointment with the hope of improving the fitness of the Real Madrid stars after an injury-filled season of last.
And his work is already paying off, with Real Madrid scoring 14 of their 16 goals in the second half of games.
That shows how Real Madrid are likely outworking teams in the second half of games in the early stages of the season.
Though, it must be pointed out that injury troubles have continued this season.
Real Madrid are currently without Garth Bale, Dani Ceballos, Toni Kroos, Ferland Mendy, Marcelo and Mariano Diaz through injury, while Nacho Fernandez and Luka Modric are among those who have also spent time out so far this season.
Some of those issues do date back to last season and the summer, but Pintus will be hoping that in the long term, these injuries start to level out.
I don’t think Pintus has been the reason we outlast opponents, under Zidane we were always pressing but under Carlo the team does not press….. they conserve their energy and hit opposition on the counter once they have the ball, we are still having the injury problems we had before Pintus came back and he has been back twice and still the same issue
we needs to get new right back