La Liga Preview: Wounded Giants There for the Taking in 11-Day Binge?

The French writer and political theorist Jean-Jacques Rousseau once declared that happiness requires three things: “a good bank account, a good cook and a good digestion.” It sounds relatively simple, and the idea of not just being physically capable of letting things settle but also wilfully doing so is one we like. Not La Liga, though. 

Less than 24 hours removed from one cluster of fixtures, Spain’s top division is ready to load us with another. You might still be digesting the Seville derby from Tuesday or the frenetic draws in Madrid and Barcelona from a night later, but to hell with your happiness. La Liga wants you to wash down your Sunday roast with a large mixed kebab and then guzzle the chilli oil. There’s no time for healthy savouring here.  

On Friday, Real Betis and Malaga kick off the round, but kicking off is a loose concept this week. Since last Friday, La Liga has had a fixture for you every day, and when Monday arrives, Spanish football will have been on your television for 11 straight nights. Or not, if your life features better balance than this writer’s.

It’s hard to keep track of it all. Two courses rounds have passed without a moment’s interruption, and the third is already coming with our mouths still full. It’s as though the Primera Division has become a little like that friend’s mother who won’t let you leave without you having threatened the structural integrity of your belt. Spare a thought for the players who have to be the regurgitated dish. 

Every year now when the Champions League knockout stages arrive and Spanish teams inevitably win, we’re constantly told it’s because the ride is easy in Spain. For those from English shores, the “long Premier League season” in comparison with others is an obstacle, they tell us, neglecting to notice that 38-game affairs are the norm elsewhere, too.  

Weeks such as these in La Liga are necessary to accommodate that two-weekend window referred to by envious eyes as the winter break. But Real Madrid and Barcelona might disagree on that definition. Like the Catalans last December, the lot from the capital will spend their winter coming back from Japan, having contested the coveted-by-no-one Club World Cup. It’s their punishment reward for winning the trophy that counts. Aren’t they lucky. 

Since October’s international break Barca have played every midweek https://t.co/NX6n6MfJVg Hectic schedule -> pic.twitter.com/xZfJbePcz6

— Ed Malyon (@eaamalyon) February 22, 2016

The grind is real. The ability of Spain’s behemoths to handle gruelling schedules is too often underplayed, but even they have their hands full at this early stage.

After Wednesday’s thrill-a-minute action, Real Madrid will make the long journey to Gran Canaria on Saturday to tackle a savvy Las Palmas without Casemiro and Marcelo. The midfielder has a fractured fibula, per AS, while his fellow Brazilian limped off against Villarreal with a calf problem and won’t make the trip. Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema don’t yet look 100 per cent, either.

Wednesday was taxing, too. At the Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid spent the evening in a constant state of acceleration, but it was the starting speed that was the problem. Even if Carlo Ancelotti once described Madrid to Il …

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