The issue of too many matches has been one that has dominated discussions in football over the last 12 months, especially as there has been many high-profile serious injuries. Real Madrid have been particularly affected by this, and Thibaut Courtois was one of the players to have fallen foul.

Courtois ruptured his ACL in August 2023, which led him to missing the vast majority of the 2023-24 season. As per Reliefhe has had his say on the controversial fixture calendar.

“We have to put an end to the excuse of ‘you make a lot of money’. You can also make money by playing 10 fewer games. It’s not that there are too many games… I think the problem is that we lack rest.

“FIFPRO is trying to protect players. But I think other regulatory bodies don’t think about it. This Club World Cup is something that has to exist, but it’s difficult to find the right way to participate. I think the clubs want to help, but we all follow the rules and the calendar they give us.”

Courtois also used examples of his Real Madrid teammates, in particular joking about Federico Valverde, who is well-known for barely ever afforded the opportunity to be rested and rotated at club or international level.

“Jude Bellingham and Dani Carvajal played until July 14 and, then, on August 1, they were in training in Madrid and on August 8 they played the Super Cup. If you explain this to the people of America with the NBA, the NFL, they won’t understand. The other day I was laughing with Fede Valverde. I told him: ‘Your next vacation will be in 2027.’ You know how crazy that sounds! This year it’s the Club World Cup, next year it’s the World Cup, the following year something else, so there’s no rest…”