“Maybe our opinion doesn’t count, but everyone knows what we think about having more games. Everyone has had enough.” The words of Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson were bitter at a press conference on Monday 16 September, on the eve of the first Champions League match between Liverpool, his team, and AC Milan. But they are proportional to the annoyance that is affecting professional footballers at the start of the 2024-2025 season.
This means the new format of Europe’s main competition coming into force, in which groups are abolished in favour of a single group and each registered club will play at least eight matches, compared to the previous six, before possibly taking part in the knockout phase, as well as the renewal of the Club World Cup, expanded this summer to thirty-two teams, compared to the previous twenty-four. In short: an increase in the number of matches for the affected players.
In this context, the players’ union FIFPro called for protective measures at the beginning of the month, pointing to an excessive workload in a calendar that continues to lengthen. The discontent is such that Rodri, the Spanish midfielder for Manchester City, even raised the possibility of launching a strike on Tuesday. “If this continues, at some point we will have no other option”the 2024 European champion with La Roja insisted to the press. “It is a general opinion among the players, it is not fair. [mon] warning “continued the man who played nearly sixty games in 2023-2024, between club and national team together.
“We are the main characters”
“We understand that there is the media and television side, the UEFA side [l’instance européenne]FIFA [l’instance mondiale]the first division [le championnat de la première division anglaise] and other national competitions »said Allison, who played more than forty games last season, wearing both the Reds and Seleçao shirts. “We are not stupid: we understand that people want more parties, but the most reasonable thing would be for all parties (…) sit together and [s’]hear. ” Liverpool could play more than sixty games this season, after having played fifty-eight last year.
Where to put the meter? If Rodri refuses to “give an exact figure”However, it does provide an order of magnitude: “Sixty or seventy, no. Between forty and fifty games, a player can play at the highest level. Then you decline because it is not possible to maintain your physical level.” In fact, the quality of the show is at stake enough that the current situation is counterproductive. “If people want to see better football, we have to be able to rest”the Madrid native claims. More prosaically, “The more the number of meetings increases, the more the level and quality decreases”.
Although less virulent than his counterpart, Paris Saint-Germain captain Marquinhos acknowledges the difficulties arising, in particular, from the new Champions League formula. We do what we love, that’s why we will never say no to a match and such a big competition.”says the Brazilian defender, but “ There are extra games, a very busy schedule, if you add the national team, the trips, games every three days, it adds up to a lot.
“We are not experts in the calendar, but it is important to know what the players think”He argued, also advocating for reconciliation between the players and the “decision makers”. Other big names in football, such as Manchester City’s Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne and Real Madrid’s Italian manager Carlo Ancelotti, have also expressed their concern. And Rodri recalls: “We have to take care of ourselves, we are the main protagonists of this sport, or of this business, whatever you call it.”
