Boxing Day and the Eiffel Tower at Night

As most European leagues entered their winter breaks and players began enjoying a rare holiday, the Premier League headed into the toughest stretch of its season: the Christmas fixtures.

The Premier League had no winter break.

Instead of stopping for Christmas and New Year, it scheduled derbies and matches between nearby teams.

It was a British football tradition, though commercial interests played their part too.

And it all began with Boxing Day.

Boxing Day fell on the day after Christmas.

According to tradition, masters gave their servants gifts that day to thank them for a year of hard work.

Over time, it became a British holiday.

For fans, though, Boxing Day meant just one thing: football.

Mulled wine and turkey on one side, fierce battles on the pitch on the other. That was a British Christmas.

For players from leagues accustomed to a winter break, the Premier League's Christmas fixtures were torture.

While others soaked up the sun on beaches, Premier League players fought match after match on cold winter nights.

For them, Christmas was the hardest stretch of the year.

Other people gathered with their families. They had to run out onto the pitch.

Yet that hardship was part of what gave the Premier League its unique appeal.

For British fans, meanwhile, it was the happiest time of the year.

Watching football with a cup of mulled wine was the best Christmas present they could ask for.

From Boxing Day until after New Year, Premier League players were almost constantly rushing to the next match.

Planes, buses, hotels, and stadiums became their entire world.

But that was the Premier League, the most commercially valuable league in the world.

Klopp had publicly complained more than once about the crowded Christmas schedule.

He could complain all he liked, but there was