La Liga President rejects Courtois’s plea to postpone the 25-26 opener of Real Madrid for more resting time

Javier Tebas, president of the Spanish competition, rejected the plea of the Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to postpone the opener 2025-26 of the team to give players the time to rest after the extensive club world cup.

Real Madrid was eliminated on Wednesday with a 4-0 semi-final loss for Paris Saint-Germain and will have a 41-day outdoor season for the LA Liga-Opener against Osasuna on August 19.

Tebas said that the decision not to move the opener was taken by the Spanish football federation and La Liga agreed. He said that players would have 21 days off and 21 days training for the preseason.

«I believe they have 20 days to rest instead of 21 and no other competitions such as the Premier League for Chelsea or the French Ligue 1 for PSG change the competitions,» he said through a translator during a Friday interview with The Associated Press. «So I don’t believe that we should change the calendar for that reason, especially because we think it’s a matter of one day.»

Real Madrid played 68 competitive matches in a season that started on August 18: 38 in the competition, 14 in the Champions League, six each in the Copa del Rey and the Club World Cup, two in the Spanish Super Cup and one per piece in the European Super Cup and Intercontinental Cup.

PSG plays his 65th game in the World Cup Final of Sunday and Chelsea are 64th. PSG opens its season from 15-17 August at Nantes and Chelsea starts against Crystal Palace on August 17.

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«It’s always the same for La Liga,» said Courtois Wednesday. «To listen to those comments from a president, it is something that I have not seen it in Italy, or in England, nor the NBA and the NFL. It is great if Tebas does not like the Club World Cup, but it is part of the FIFA calendar.