Real Madrid's Eighth Straight Win, Evergrande's Proactive Contact

By October, the league's grueling run of fixtures had temporarily come to an end.

But with the Copa del Rey kicking off, Real Madrid would officially enter a three-front campaign this month.

Even for an elite giant, competing on multiple fronts remained a huge test.

If a team handled its rotations poorly, or a key player in a certain position got injured, the pressure of fighting on multiple fronts could very well cause the entire team to collapse.

Why did Arsenal, the perennial top-four contenders, always habitually fall apart in the second half of the season?

Wasn't it because, once the second half began, their multi-front schedule suddenly became far more congested, and every opponent they faced was strong?

A packed schedule, combined with intense battles on several fronts at once, was like switching Arsenal—a team built around young players with insufficient squad depth—from normal difficulty straight to hell mode. A collapse was hardly surprising.

Although Real Madrid had far greater squad depth than Arsenal, the opponents they faced were also much tougher.

That was why rotation remained extremely important even for Real Madrid.

This was also why Mourinho had arranged for key players like Lin Feng and Cristiano Ronaldo to be rotated in this match.

If the regular starters were not allowed to rest while the pressure for results was still low, then once the hellish schedule began, it would be difficult to give them any rest even if they wanted to.

On October 1, Real Madrid welcomed their second Champions League group-stage opponent at home.

It was a match with a vast disparity in strength, but the gap in the two teams' market value was even more staggering.

According to Transfermarkt's latest market value figures, Real Madrid's entire squad was worth as much as 750 million Euro.

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