Misleading soccer schedule: there are no more games than 20 years ago

In recent weeks, coaches and players have spoken out about the busy schedule, but the number of games has not increased in the past twenty years.

Lately, players and coaches have been complaining about the busy schedule. Carlo Ancelotti is often asked about this subject at press conferences: “Complaining will not change the schedule. It is important to think about this. The governing bodies have to think about the players, who are getting tired.”

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick also calls for better care for the players and fewer matches: “I think FIFA should take better care of the players. This is not the best situation for them. We all love football and want players to perform at their best. If we want the highest quality, we have to reduce the number of games.”

It is becoming increasingly common for elite players to suffer long-term injuries (such as Carvajal, Militaão, Ter Stegen, Marc Bernal, Hamari Traoré…), and one of the reasons given for this misfortune is the heavy competition load. One of these injured players, Carvajal, complained about the schedule just before the first match of the season, ahead of the UEFA Super Cup final.

“The schedule doesn't make sense. It is impossible to maintain an optimal level. If we try to do everything, it will be impossible to perform in 72 games. The relevant authorities should analyze this. The quality of the games is declining, and we and our families are suffering.”

These injuries are not only related to the match load, as Sergio Pardo Carrillo, a fitness coach who worked with Francisco at clubs such as Rayo Vallecano and Almería, explained to AS: “It is a multifactorial injury. There is a lot of talk about race load, which is one factor, but there is not as much fatigue now,” making it clear that this load is not the only or main reason at this point in the season. After all these complaints, are more games being played now than twenty years ago?

Similar schemes

This season, Real Madrid is the team that can play the most matches, as they will participate in no fewer than seven official competitions. If they all reached the final, Ancelotti's team would play a total of 69 matches. This is more than normal as this season sees the new Club World Cup, which is held every four years and would amount to seven matches if they reach the final. Without this competition, a club team could play a maximum of 63 matches.

Game Overview: Then and Now

These matches are divided as follows: 38 league matches, six cup matches, two Spanish Super Cup matches, one UEFA Super Cup match, 15 Champions League matches and one Intercontinental Cup match. If we look back twenty years to the 2004-2005 season, a team that reaches the final in all competitions would be able to play the same number of games: 63.

Although some competitions have changed the number of matches, the total remains the same: 38 league matches, nine cup matches, two Spanish Super Cup matches, 13 Champions League matches, one UEFA Super Cup match and one Intercontinental Cup match. Two years earlier there were even more matches, as the Champions League had two group stages, increasing to 17 matches if you reached the final, a total of 67 matches per season.

Despite complaints from players and coaches, the number of club level matches played during a season is very similar to what it was twenty years ago. Since the early 2000s, competition loads have remained consistent over the past 25 years, with only minor variations. Since the introduction of the Champions League group stage in the 1994–95 season, the number of matches at club level has remained virtually the same.

Fewer international breaks

International breaks are being scrutinized and clubs are trying to avoid calling up their players during these periods or to release them after the first match if the second is a friendly or if they are suspended. Recently there has been talk of consolidating all holidays into one to reduce international travel and avoid disruption to club competitions.

Currently there is one break less than before. Nowadays two matches are played in September, two in October, two in November, two in March and two in June, making a total of ten matches, not including Euro or World Cup years. Previously, in addition to these breaks, national teams would play a friendly match in August and a midweek match in February, between two matchdays in the league, playing two matches with their clubs and one with their national team in just seven days. A total of 11-12 international matches were played during the season.

The difference with the early 2000s is the number of friendly matches. National teams played three to four friendly matches during the season, but now, with the introduction of the UEFA Nations League, they only play one friendly match as the rest are official league matches.

Less minutes collected

One of the consequences of COVID-19 in football was the increase in the number of substitutions per match from three to five, which reduced the number of minutes on the pitch for players and removed some of the criticism of the fixture list.

For example, last season at Real Madrid only two players exceeded 4,000 minutes (Rüdiger and Valverde), while six players had 3,000 minutes and several others had 2,000 minutes. Looking back twenty years to the 2003-2004 season, no fewer than nine Real Madrid players exceeded 4,000 minutes (Casillas, Salgado, Roberto Carlos, Helguera, Raúl Bravo, Zidane, Beckham, Raúl and Figo), while two players exceeded 3,000 minutes.

Team rosters are getting longer, reducing the number of minutes players accumulate so they don't have to log as much playing time as in the past. What has really changed are the preseasons. Previously, teams had to prepare for a month in their home city, but now summer tours mean that players do not reach the optimal fitness desired at the start of the season.

While coaches and players have legitimate complaints about the long and busy schedule, the reality is that this has been the case in football for the past two decades. However, with longer rosters and more substitutions allowed, the physical and athletic demands are higher, but the game schedule has remained the same since the early 2000s.

Original article written by Daniel L. Peinado, translated with the help of AI and edited by Joe Brennan.

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