Real Madrid’s European Champions League title win at the expense of Liverpool has not been the final chapter of the European football season as the excitement continues with the start of the third edition of the European Nations League as it prepares for France. champion of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, to defend her continental title in preparation for an international football wedding in Qatar.

The decision to move the World Cup in Qatar to the end of this year could have given players the opportunity to get a longer rest period than usual, but contrary to what is expected, international matches, which will last until mid-June this year, will be a new stress station as their the number can be up to four per team.

Match intensity, physical fatigue and exhaustion prompted the FIFPro Association of Professional Players to sound the alarm last week, given that professional players are not required to play more than 55 matches in a season.

Scottish Liverpool defender Andy Robertson has previously made the same number of appearances before joining his country’s national team on Wednesday when Qatar hosts the European World Cup play-off against Ukraine.

In the event that the Scottish team emerges victorious, they will play Wales in Cardiff on Sunday for a spot in Qatari football but with a commitment to play three European Nations League matches after earning the World Cup, including two. against Armenia and one against Ireland in the first group of the second tier competition.

Robertson recently said, “It’s a lot after a busy season for everyone where players only needed 8 or 9 days off and I think that’s unfair.”

In turn, having led Real Madrid to victory in the main continental tournament, French striker Karim Benzema has joined the Roosters team, which is preparing to play 4 matches in the first group stage of the first level.

France, the 2018 World Cup holders, will start their home matches against Denmark on Friday, then host Croatia and Austria on the 6th and 10th of this month before returning to Croatia on the 13th.

As coach Didier Deschamps’ men prepare to defend their World Cup title, they also have the challenge of defending their Nations League title after winning their second title last October by beating Spain 2-1 in the final at the San Siro in Milan.

Benzema will be the brightest Ballon d’Or candidate for the world’s best player for the first time in his career under the microscope and critics’ eyes, especially his offensive partnership with Paris Saint-Germain’s explosive star Kylian Mbappé.

The third group has acquired the status of “group of death”, as it includes Italy, winners of the European Cup last summer, Germany and England, as well as Hungary.

Gareth Southgate’s men start the competition with a light-on-paper encounter with Hungary in the capital Budapest on Saturday, as they embark on a perilous journey to Munich to face Germany on the 7th of this month before facing Italy at Wolverhampton and Hungary 11th. 14th place respectively.

The Three Lions team face off against Italian manager Roberto Mancini’s men behind closed doors in front of fans after the European Football Association (Wifa) fined the English federation for the unrest that marred last year’s European Cup final at Wembley.

Will South American teams join?

In the second group, the Spanish team will host their Portuguese counterpart, crowned in the first edition of 2019, in Seville on Thursday, while Belgium will play their neighbor the Netherlands on Friday in the fourth group stage.

Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland and Wales have expressed interest in a third edition of the European Nations League that saw the light of a decision instead of friendlies, stating their desire to play semi-finals and finals next June.

After that, there is a possibility that the South American teams will join the expanded version of the continental competition.

“We’re discussing it and it’s possible, but at the moment it’s still an idea,” Slovenian UEFA president Aleksandar Čeferin told AFP last week.

“European national team coaches are unhappy that they no longer play South American (teams) in friendly matches, and the same applies to South American (teams),” he added.

He added: “It can be an interesting competition, but we have to see how to put it into practice so that we don’t organize more matches compared to the current situation.”