Real Madrid’s internal tensions: 25 injuries, concerns over running stats and divisive Pintus

Real Madrid thrashed Osasuna 4-0 last weekend but the game summed up their misfortunes this season.

Yes, it got Madrid back to winning ways after their third defeat of the season a few days earlier against AC Milan, and this was important given they only lost two in the whole of the 2023-24 campaign.

But in that victory against Osasuna, Rodrygo, Eder Militao and Lucas Vazquez were all injured, deepening a worrying crisis of personnel. Madrid now have nine players unavailable because of injury.

Militao tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) for the second time in two seasons, and Rodrygo and Vazquez will miss around a month with muscle injuries. Right-back Dani Carvajal and promising centre-back Joan Martinez have also suffered ACL injuries this term — and the same happened to goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and David Alaba last year, as well as Militao.

Seventeen players have been injured this season, sometimes more than once.

Those injuries have caused friction within the Madrid dressing room. Tensions have emerged within Carlo Ancelotti’s backroom staff, including over the team’s physical preparation. Among other things, The Athletic has learned:

• Physical trainer Antonio Pintus has become a divisive figure behind the scenes, with some of his approaches considered to be old-fashioned
• Some in the dressing room aren’t pleased by the media attention he has garnered in recent seasons
• There is disagreement within the coaching staff over the importance of how far Madrid’s players are running in games
• Assistant coach and head of set pieces Francesco Mauri has displayed temperamental behaviour on the touchline and behind the scenes
• Sources close to Pintus blame Madrid’s injury problems on several factors, including the club’s intense schedule.

The people working at Real Madrid, or close to those who work for the club, who spoke to The Athletic for this piece did so on condition of anonymity to protect their jobs or relationships. Real Madrid were contacted for comment.

Here, we explain the internal divisions behind the scenes.

GO DEEPER

When were things last this bad for Real Madrid?

Ancelotti is without nine injured players: Alaba, Martinez, Carvajal, youth centre-back Jacobo Ramon, Militao, Courtois, Aurelien Tchouameni, Vazquez and Rodrygo. Madrid’s players have suffered 25 separate injuries in the first three months of the season.

Players have continued to play despite discomfort. That was the case with Tchouameni, who had a longstanding foot injury before his latest absence with an ankle problem. Jude Bellingham has experienced issues with his left shoulder since last season.

The injury crisis has led to doubts about Pintus in the dressing room, as Spanish outlet Relevo first reported.

Militao suffered a second ACL injury in two seasons in the game against Osasuna (Alberto Gardin/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Pintus is an Italian fitness trainer who worked for clubs including Chelsea, Juventus and Inter Milan before arriving at Real Madrid in 2016. His first spell at the club lasted until 2019 and he re-joined in 2021 when Ancelotti returned. Madrid president Florentino Perez called him to give him the job the second time around.

Media reports — including from The Athletic — regularly highlight Pintus as a significant figure.

During Madrid’s pre-season training camp in 2023, Bellingham told Real Madrid TV: “Pintus loves to kill us… but yes, I love him. He’s a great guy”. Pintus has regularly used special masks to record and analyse his players’ oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, personalising their training programmes accordingly. On their tour of the United States this year, The Athletic reported how he had been collaborating with NASA to help astronauts on their missions.

From this summer, Pintus’ title changed from first-team fitness coach to head of performance. That promotion came with an improved contract and followed interest in the Italian from elsewhere.

But Pintus’ relationship with Ancelotti has become strained in recent months. Some within the dressing room say one of the main reasons for this is Pintus not taking responsibility for key decisions — including the recovery of injured players.

Pintus’ physical trainers and the rest of Ancelotti’s coaching staff disagree on the team’s physical intensity in games. Independent data seen by The Athletic suggests they are 19th of 20 in La Liga this season for distance covered per 90 minutes as a team. One of the reasons behind this may be that they often enjoy more possession than their opponents, so the ball is doing the running for them.

But Ancelotti and others think that Madrid’s players aren’t running as much as last season and that they have to increase their distance covered in kilometres — something the club’s directors have highlighted to the squad. The staff disagree among themselves how important this is, however, with some claiming that the most important metric is distance covered at maximum intensity.

GO DEEPER

How much does the distance a team run affect their chances of a win?

To give an example of how the two can vary, data seen by The Athletic from the 4-0 win against Osasuna shows Madrid’s overall distance covered was the second lowest of the league season, but they recorded their second-highest distance at a high intensity.

Some point to a lack of physical work outside of games. They give the example of Kylian Mbappe’s recent trip to Sweden after he was not called up to the France squad for the October international break due to fitness concerns over a recent thigh injury.

While Mbappe was away, he agreed with Pintus to do some low-intensity exercises. Pintus then called Mbappe to Madrid’s Valdebebas training ground a day before the club’s other internationals were due to return. The club posted photos of that session, although according to one source, the forward only ran for a short period.

Pintus’ approach has proved divisive (Alberto Gardin/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)

People familiar with the environment describe Pintus as a trainer who adapts physical work to the preference of individual players, but that sometimes this isn’t very intense. Some players feel comfortable with him, but some key figures in the team think more regular work is needed. Some of the exercises he gives the players are also considered old-fashioned by other people involved in player preparation.

Others who are close to Pintus’ thinking say the intense schedule and the lack of a proper pre-season can help explain the injury problems. They point out that Girona had 12 first-team injuries at one point in October.

People familiar with the environment also say Pintus appears to have become distanced from the rest of the coaching staff and does not seem to want to share much information about his work, which makes it difficult to coordinate with the team.

Madrid’s physical team consists of Italian Giuseppe Bellistri, Frenchman Sebastien Devillaz, who monitors the players’ metrics, and readaptation coach Jose Carlos Parrales. Ancelotti decided to move his son-in-law Mino Fulco from the role of nutritionist and assistant to performance manager to try to improve the connection with the rest of the staff — but there remains a sense of mistrust.

Some of those close to the dressing room don’t appreciate Pintus’ public prominence, feeling he appears mainly in a positive light but does not take the same responsibility when there are problems. Multiple people said they are also wary of his close relationship with Perez, the club president. One person who works for a Real Madrid first-team player explained this to The Athletic by saying: “He’s a friend of Florentino’s — he’s like his right arm.” Pintus himself is unhappy with leaks from within the dressing room.

People familiar with the dressing room environment say Pintus is distant but polite with Ancelotti and nobody in the dressing room questions the head coach’s desire to keep things civil. Ancelotti has insisted to his staff that they have to stay calm on the bench. Those close to Pintus say there are no issues between him and Ancelotti.

Carlo’s son and assistant coach Davide is also praised for how he manages these situations. In the last training session open to the media before the Osasuna win, Carlo and Pintus could be seen in fluid discussion while they put players through their paces.

Davide Ancelotti with his father Carlo (Alberto Gardin/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

A senior Madrid source stressed to The Athletic that Pintus has the club’s support — but the debate over his methods isn’t the only sign of heightened tensions within the coaching staff in recent weeks.

Injuries to youth players Martinez and Ramon when training with the first team have been a cause for concern. Sources involved with the team’s physical preparation say they are less developed than those in the senior squad. The increase in injuries has forced the club to move fitness coach Ruben Cipriano from the youth setup to the first team to work alongside Parrales.

According to multiple sources, the assistant coach and head of set pieces Francesco Mauri has also been displaying temperamental behaviour — on the touchline and behind the scenes.

Francesco is the son of Carlo Ancelotti’s former longstanding physical coach, Giovanni Mauri, and has risen to become an essential part of the first team alongside Davide Ancelotti. Both Davide and Francesco are highly rated as coaches within the Madrid setup.

They have been friends since childhood and have been tasked with leading first-team training sessions for the past four years. The former took charge of set pieces last season, an area in which Madrid excelled at both ends of the pitch as they won a La Liga and Champions League double.

But in recent weeks, Francesco’s behaviour has upset several coaches.

Francesco Mauri (Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images)

Someone who works with a Real Madrid first-team player told The Athletic: “Francesco has said several things that have upset Carlo a lot, but as he is like his father because he has grown up with Davide, there have been no major problems.

“There have been things he has said and done on the bench that if someone else does, they would be kicked off the bench.”

He has become increasingly vocal on the touchline during games. In the closing stages of Madrid’s 3-2 win against Alaves in September, he left for the dressing room after members of the opposition bench complained about his behaviour, which they considered excessive.

Sources close to Mauri say this followed a heated discussion after Endrick avoided a red card. They say Mauri acknowledges he is a temperamental person and has at times gone too far, but that this is part of a personality he creates to counter the calmer instincts of the Ancelottis.

But there has been more friction between Davide and Mauri than previously. Mauri has started a course to become a head coach and it is unclear whether they will continue working together after Madrid. Davide and Mauri have aspirations to be a first-team coach, with the latter interested in the prospect of one day managing in Major League Soccer.

As long as players continue to suffer injuries and Ancelotti’s squad becomes more depleted, there will be intense scrutiny on the club’s medical and fitness departments.

This is not the first time, either. In November last year, Madrid removed Niko Mihic from his position as head of medical services, despite Perez’s trust in him. Mounting injury problems — and dissatisfaction among the rest of the staff and squad with his methods — led to that decision, and Felipe Segura replaced him. Mihic, considered by those around the first team squad to be extremely close to the president, remains involved at the club.

Within the dressing room, there is a feeling that further changes will be made to the organisational structure at Madrid.

In the meantime, there is no sign that tensions behind the scenes will ease soon.

(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)