The success of Pintus or how to explore the limits: "It makes you feel on another level and that stays for life"

• Celebration Marcelo's emotion, Ancelotti's hugs and a league party at the Bernabéu 15 years later: "I don't want to talk, I want to celebrate"

• Real Madrid Champion Chronicle

• Pichichi The charisma of Benzema, the captain who plays like nobody else: "Now he puts his heart into everything he does"

• Bench The fifth conquest of 'Carlomagno' Ancelotti: Davide and a family bench, changes since 2013 and "an illusion"

• Protagonist From Trujillo to the alirón, the call from Carletto that changed history: "I am what you are looking for"

• President La Liga that charges Florentino Pérez with reasons: protection of Benzema, arm wrestling with Sergio Ramos and savings against Covid

The mist that surrounds the figure of

(Turin, 1962) has not managed to dissipate in his more than three decades in the great football elite.

Reluctant to interviews, the Real Madrid physical trainer has never boasted of his successes, nor has he strayed from a line of work based on three pillars: hard work, humility and loyalty.

"Above all, I admire that he has never wanted to give himself greater importance. And that for me is number one," says

, one of the people who knows him best and with whom he still maintains a direct line.

The Uruguayan coach attends EL MUNDO from Athens, where he has been working for two months as Greek coach.

"Whenever I have any doubts, I call Antonio. He is a person who never stands still and who continues to study and improve. His method is never the same, but rather adapts and adjusts to the times," explains Poyet.

Much has changed in football since the two met in 1998, when Pintus had just signed for Chelsea under

.

But that summer in London is still fresh in Poyet's memory.

"We had the

that he arrived four months after Vialli, because it was one of those pre-seasons that you never forget. He gave us a real beating, he killed us," recalls the former Real Zaragoza player.

Those pains soon paid off for Poyet, who a few weeks later would score the winning goal in the European Super Cup against Real Madrid.

"The image that we all keep is that of the coach who made you feel on another physical level. And that relationship stays for life," adds the Uruguayan.

With the same intentions of that summer of 1998, Pintus appeared last July 5 in Valdebebas, to direct his first training session together with

.

After two years of absence, his return implied another turn of the screw for a squad that last year had suffered 62 injuries, one of the highest figures in LaLiga.

To this worrying incidence we had to add the factor of seniority: more than half of the backbone of the team would reach the spring exceeding or around thirty.

From

's 29

, without forgetting

(34),

(32),

(30),

(30) or

(29).

As if that were not enough, Pintus faced the difficulty of the tournament itself, a factor as crucial as it is sometimes ignored.

According to data from the CIES Football Observatory, LaLiga is the most physically demanding championship in Europe and America, with the highest average total distance covered (103.7 km) and distance covered with high-intensity efforts, around 20 km/h (803.9m).

After evaluating 365 matches of the 2020-2021 season, CIES has confirmed that our championship already clearly exceeds the Premier League, whose parameters are reduced to 100.8 km and 790.1 m, respectively.

Therefore, anyone who wanted to be a champion had to run as much or more than the rest.

From minute 1 to 90.

Pintus also needed to adapt to Ancelotti's agenda, stubborn from the first hour with an eleven type exposed to the rigors of the calendar.

But even with the sad exceptions of

and

, Madrid reduced their number of injuries by 30% and arrived with fresh legs at the decisive moments.

In 34 days, the team scored 24 goals during the last quarter of an hour.

A record far from the reach of the leaders of the other major European championships: Manchester City (15), Milan (15), Bayern (16) and PSG (19).

To achieve these goals, the physicist has deepened his script, where technology is intertwined with rigorous customization.

knows this method first-hand from his time with Pintus in the Premier.

"Antonio was two steps ahead of the rest. With him you had a most curious feeling, because he had you busted and at the same time between cottons", recalls the man from Madrid.

It was October 2013, when Pintus arrived at Sunderland after a call from Poyet,

.

"He placed a GPS on us and we analyzed the distance traveled, the speed in the sprints or the time at maximum heart rate. That, which today seems normal, was very new to me, because I came from Aston Villa and Rangers, with completely different methods," says Cuéllar.

At that time, the defense dragged recurring discomfort in the hamstrings, which was improving under the orders of Pintus.

"Even if there were 10 minutes of training left, he didn't hesitate to take you out if he feared any risk of relapse. In addition, each one worked according to his position on the field, because a central defender does not need to run the same as a full-back. Everything was based on the movements I made progressions of 20 meters, more or less the distance for a coverage", abounds the former Osasuna player.

In three magical weeks, between April and May, that Sunderland tied four victories that were worth a permanence.

"I can't get something out of my head and more than once I've told him in person," says Poyet.

"It was that little smile that he put on you when you finished a series. You came home devastated and he was waiting for you with the stopwatch in his hand. I told him: 'Don't laugh', but at the same time I felt the satisfaction of working to the limit. That was the perfection of his method", completes the Hellenic coach, a member of the select club of friends of Pintus.

A circle of loyalties in which guys as varied as

,

,

or

have been handled .

"He is one of those people you love for life. It doesn't matter where he is, because you always know that you will always keep in touch",

Conforms to The Trust Project criteria

Know more

• soccer

• real Madrid

• Carlo Ancelotti