The best players in the European championships will have an intense summer, before starting a new season which also promises to be very long. They could chain a hundred matches until the Euro, which will take place in June 2021 after being postponed for a year.

Ninety minutes of football every three days at a temperature flirting with 30 degrees, this is the daily life of players from Liga or Serie A in a few days, if the thermometers reach the usual heights. Then, the teams qualified for the European Club Cups will switch from August to the final stages of these competitions, then in September to a 2020-2021 season without respite, closed on July 11, 2021 by the final of the Euro or the Copa America.

"It's been almost a season and a half in a year, it's unheard of," said Nicolas Dyon, physical trainer who passed through Rennes, Saint-Etienne or Nice. "Some internationals are going to chain 100 matches, it's huge. For the players, it's clearly going to be a pivotal season."

A season where staff turnover will be even more crucial: "Welcome to the shoes of a basketball player. Some people will understand what it is to have a day 'on' then a day 'off'", extends the trainer Aurélien Simon, who works individually with several pros like Andy Delort (Montpellier) and Ismaël Bennacer (AC Milan).

Fears of increased injuries

This infernal calendar is not without risks for the players, especially since it starts without complete preparation after an unprecedented confinement due to the Covid-19 pandemic. "I will be curious to see the statistics on injuries at the end of next season. With such a sequence, the exposure to injuries is much greater. Fatigue accumulates, and at some point the body will say stop", s worries Nicolas Dyon.

In major championships, these fears are shared, even if the recovery has not shown a major resurgence of injuries.

In Spain, the main players' union AFE has, for example, asked La Liga that no match be played above 32 ° C. A temperature however common in Andalusia in summer. "We take great care of recovery. This is very important," Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrid coach, confirmed this week. "First of all because of the sanitary situation, with our return to the field. And then, we must add to that the heat factor. We know that the heat will be overwhelming from now on."

"This is the season of all dangers, especially for championships other than France," said Philippe Piat, president of the French players union UNFP and director of the world union Fifpro. "I'm pretty skeptical, and I wonder how the players will end it."

Do not neglect mental work

How to limit breakage? "It's not this year that we will do physical preparation, that's for sure," says Aurélien Simon. "We will see the real workers stand out. In a season like this, we don't just survive talent," he said.

Nicolas Dyon for his part points to a triple risk. "The first is the big injuries, of the cruciate ligament type. The second is the usual drop in shape from the onset of winter, which will be earlier and more significant. And there is burn -out, psychological decompression. Because, at one point, the brain decides. "

In the minds, "invisible training will be decisive", judges Raphaël Homat, mental trainer hired regularly with several professional players. "Recovering on a cognitive and emotional level will be essential and mental work, which is less tiring for muscles, can be quite relevant."

In this phase, the supervision of the clubs will be decisive. Some coaches have already stepped in to denounce the afternoon matches in midsummer, like Paolo Fonseca, the coach of AS Rome. Other technicians castigate late schedules, which are bad for recovery: "At this rate, the players risk real physical exhaustion," worried Ivo Pulcini, medical manager at Lazio Rome.

Remains a lever to preserve the players, while the winter break will be shortened in many countries: the days of rest. "The coaches really need not be afraid of giving their players five or six days sometimes," says Nicolas Dyon. "It is essential. Otherwise, you will quickly lose them. Physically and mentally."

With AFP

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