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Winter breaks across Europe
- Updated: December 21, 2016
As Premier League and Football League sides gear up for their hectic festive fixture schedules, clubs across Europe are preparing to put their feet up for the winter break.
English football continues with its traditional round of fixtures on Boxing Day, and Premier League clubs then play twice in the space of a few days either side of New Year’s Eve.
By the time some of Europe’s other top-five leagues get back underway, Premier League sides will have played five fixtures – included one in the FA Cup third round.
So which major league has the longest winter break?
The festive schedule will come as a shock to Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, who enjoyed the benefits of the longest winter break in Europe at his last club Bayern Munich.
This year, the German Bundesliga is breaking for its customary period of 30 days, with the final games being played on Wednesday December 21 before they return to action on January 20.
France’s Ligue 1 has the second-longest break at 24 days between December 21 and January 14.
In a break from the norm in La Liga, fixtures were scheduled either side of New Year’s Eve last season, but that has proved an exception rather than the rule, with Spanish sides getting 18 days off from December 19 to January 6 this year.
In Italy, there …
