Real Madrid will face Osasuna on the opening game of the 2025-26 La Liga season, scheduled for August 19. The game comes 39 days after the semi-final loss to PSG in the Club World Cup.
It falls under an agreement with the AFE (Spanish professional footballers’ association), which stipulates that players should have a three-week continuous holiday break, followed by an 18-week pre-season window. Despite the club’s request to change the date of the first game, it was knocked back by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), suggesting they have enough time to recover.
La Liga president Javier Tebas backed the decision. He recently shared his opinion on why Real Madrid should be able to play on the scheduled date during an event in London (Per Mundo Deportivo).
PSG plays the Super Cup final on August 13 and their league season starts on August 17, Chelsea starts the Premier League on August 17, and Real Madrid starts on the 19th. I think there are enough days. Real Madrid, with the squad they have, with the money they have earned from the World Cup, a few hours shouldn’t pose any problems.
Javier Tebas
Tebas also took shots at FIFA once again, with their schedule being the problem if Real Madrid want to complain about not having enough time to prepare for the game against Osasuna.
We have already given our option, which is that there are enough days to recover, for the rest period stipulated in the collective agreement. The problem isn’t created by the league, it’s created by a competition like the Club World Cup, which sets the dates unilaterally, and which Fifpro (the players’ union) itself has complained about.
Javier Tebas
Real Madrid have not made a further request to reschedule the game for a later date, suggesting they may accept playing on August 19.
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