Christmas had barely passed when Real Madrid began training camp.
As soon as the winter-break training camp opened, Antonio Pintus went straight into brutal mode.
An intense air of despair immediately filled Valdebebas.
At the same time, on the first day of camp, Yang Yang personally promised in front of all the players that the team would not make any signings or transfers during the winter break. He hoped everyone in the squad would stay and fight together through the second half of the season.
Perhaps many players would leave after the season ended, and the team would inevitably be rebuilt, but at least for the next few months, they would continue fighting side by side. Not a single one could be missing.
On the evening of January 3, in the nineteenth round of La Liga, Real Madrid visited Getafe.
Yang Yang once again surprised everyone by fielding the classic midfield trio of Toni Kroos, Casemiro, and Modrić, with Asensio, Suarez, and Mbappé up front.
This lineup surprised many people, but it also fit Yang Yang's rotation policy, which he had been insisting on lately.
Even more surprisingly, while the entire midfield and attack performed poorly, center-back Varane stole the show with a brace. Modrić then scored the final goal of the match late on, helping Real Madrid defeat Getafe 3–0 away and claim another three points.
With Barcelona drawing 2–2 away to Espanyol, Real Madrid widened their lead even further.
On the scoreboard, it was a perfect result, but the process was another matter.
They had 62 percent possession, yet managed only ten shots throughout the match, five fewer than Getafe.
It was not hard to see just how sluggish Real Madrid had been overall.
Part of it was because the team had increased the training load