La Liga Chief Delivers Emphatic Response to Real Madrid’s La Liga Schedule Request | OneFootball

La Liga president Javier Tebas has bluntly rejected Real Madrid’s request to postpone their opening game of the 2025–26 season, much to the dismay of the club’s players.

Madrid reportedly requested a change to the calendar which offers them little time to recover from this summer’s Club World Cup. Tebas has scarcely hid his distain for the newly expanded tournament, promising to “do everything possible to make sure the Club World Cup never happens again”. The outspoken official does not intend to let this “complete fiasco” impact the competition which he runs.

“I believe that they [Real Madrid] will have 20 days to rest instead of 21 and no other leagues like the Premier League for Chelsea or the French Ligue 1 for PSG are changing the games,” Tebas told AP News this week, making it clear that Madrid’s season opener against Osasuna will go ahead as planned on Aug. 19 before a clash with Real Oviedo five days later.

“So I don’t believe that we should change the calendar for that reason, especially thinking that it’s a matter of one day.”

Xabi Alonso suffered his first defeat as Real Madrid's new manager against PSG. / IMAGO/Sportimage

Xabi Alonso’s side made it to the semifinals of the Club World Cup, suffering a 4–0 evisceration at the hands of PSG on July 9. Players operating in Spain are entitled to three consecutive weeks of holiday between seasons, leaving Madrid with just 18 days before they host Osasuna.

Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has lamented Tebas’s staunch stance on this summer’s tournament. “It’s always the same for La Liga,” he sighed. “To listen those comments from a president it’s something that I haven’t seen it in Italy, or in England, nor the NBA and NFL.

“It’s fine if Tebas doesn’t like the Club World Cup, but it exists. It’s part of the FIFA calendar. We’re here competing, and it seems this gentleman just wants to be the focus. I’ve never seen a president of another competition speak like that. The players’ heath is on the line.”