WARSAW, Poland -- For "winning" clubs, preseasons have always centred around hunger. One way or the other. Once, they were about working off the damage that hunger can do when players are let off the leash and spend the summer gorging on beer, desserts and crisps.
Put bluntly, very many footballers returned from summer break several pounds heavier and, in some instances, downright fat. More about that in a moment. Real Madrid are the perfect example of how hunger -- in its most driven, fanatical form -- will be key to them winning some or all of the (record-breaking) seven trophies available to them during what looks like being a 334-day season that begins in Warsaw against Europa League winners Atalanta on Wednesday in the UEFA Super Cup and may not end until the Club World Cup final on July 13, 2025.
The biggest, most-important teams will always be stuffed full of talent. That's not in question. However, their best footballers are having more and more squeezed out of them, given ever-decreasing time to intensely train their physical and athletic resources.
Thus, the players union FIFPRO is suing FIFA for what they claim is breach of "fundamental rights," meaning the ability to enjoy a humane amount of rest between matches and between seasons. Editor's Picks Ranking the 50 best men's soccer club managers in Europe 20h Tor-Kristian Karlsen Adidas reveals third kits for Man United, Arsenal, Real Madrid 3h Chris Wright How does your team play? Soccer's dominant styles, from Man.