Real Madrid’s La Liga opener at risk due to Club World Cup schedule | OneFootball

According to a new report from Mundo Deportivo, Real Madrid could face a big problem with their first La Liga game of the 2025/26 season.

Although the new campaign has not even started yet, there is already a chance their opening matchday against Osasuna could be postponed depending on how far they go in the Club World Cup.

The full La Liga fixture list for 2025/26 was released recently, but trouble is brewing because of Real Madrid’s participation in the Club World Cup.

The team is set to play their quarter-final match this Saturday, July 5. Whether they advance or not could decide if the first La Liga matchday can go ahead as planned or needs to be delayed.

Semifinal or final can complicate pre-season

The issue revolves around the agreement between clubs, players, and the Spanish Footballers’ Association (AFE) about rest and pre-season days.

The agreement says players must get 30 days off in the summer, with 21 of those days being uninterrupted holidays.

Real Madrid would be the victims of their own brilliance. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

While there is no official mention of how many days should be reserved for preseason training, the AFE spoke to the captains of Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid before the Club World Cup began to arrange for 21 days of vacation and the same number of days for preseason.

If Real Madrid lose in the quarterfinals, players would still have time to get their agreed break and preseason training done before the league starts.

But if they reach the semifinals or the final, scheduled for July 8/9 and July 13 respectively, there won’t be enough time for a proper pre-season. This could lead to Real Madrid asking La Liga to postpone their opening game.

However, La Liga and the Spanish Football Federation don’t appear willing to change the schedule.

They argue that the agreement only mentions rest days, not pre-season days, and they plan to stick to that.

But if Real Madrid progress deep into the Club World Cup, there is a real possibility of chaos around the first matchday, as the team would not have enough time to prepare for the start of La Liga.