I’ve always been a huge football stats nerd, so when I wanted to look back at Real Madrid’s 2017/18 season – especially how many games they actually played – I dug right in. Started by pulling up old fixture lists on a few football database sites. Man, sorting through all those competitions took ages: La Liga, Copa del Rey, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, and of course the Champions League run.
The Grind Begins
First thing I did was make a giant spreadsheet. Listed every single tournament and started plugging in dates. Had like five different browser tabs open cross-referencing stuff because some sites disagreed on minor details. Kept tripping over those annoying postponed matches – like that Celta Vigo game that got rescheduled twice due to weather.
Biggest headache? Figuring out which friendlies counted toward the official tally. Some people include preseason tours, others don’t. Ended up sticking strictly to competitive fixtures after debating with myself for an hour.
Counting Controversies
- Got into arguments online about Club World Cup roster rules
- Discovered three players who missed matches due to paperwork errors
- Nearly tore my hair out over Copa del Rey’s two-legged ties counting as two separate games
When I finally totaled everything up, the number shocked me: 62 official matches in one season! That’s practically a game every five days for nine straight months. No wonder players looked exhausted by spring.
Final Tally & Reflection
Broke it down tournament by tournament:
- La Liga: 38
- Champions League: 13
- Spanish Supercup: 2
- Club World Cup: 2
- Copa del Rey: 7
Craziest part? Seven players appeared in over 50 matches each. Absolutely bonkers schedule – no team could sustain that now without half the squad collapsing. Funny how nostalgia makes us forget the sheer physical brutality of that campaign. Respect to Zidane for rotating well enough to actually win the Champions League again with zombie legs.
