The extreme desire of both FIFA and UEFA to expand their existing competitions and create new ones affects all major clubs in Europe and their players, and in the case of global football’s governing body, also beyond the Continent. In this piece, however, we will focus primarily on how this, and the congested fixture list it creates, affect Bayern Munich in particular.
Congested Fixture List Impact on Bayern Munich
Congested Fixture List Impact Before the Newest Changes
The Bavarians had their first trophyless season since 2011/12 last term. While there are many reasons for this, one of the key factors was the team’s long injury list, which disproportionately included players sidelined due to repeated muscular injuries.
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That indicates a lack of fitness on the part of the players. Both head coach Thomas Tuchel and longtime fitness coach Holger Broich were let go at the end of last season.
Despite these personnel changes, there is a fear that this issue may worsen with the expansion of the UEFA Champions League to 36 teams and an eight-round league phase. That is to say nothing of FIFA’s plans for the future. German football has had to cut short the Bundesliga’s winter break over the years, even with the congested fixture list being as it was before the Champions League overhaul.
UEFA Reforms
European football’s governing body not only expanded the Champions League and its other two club competitions for that matter, it also added more matches to the frankly quite useless Nations League, which will as of this season’s edition include a quarterfinal round instead of the usual direct Final Four tournament after the group stage. Along with that, they will add promotion/relegation playoffs for teams that finish third in higher league groups, facing second-place sides in the next lowest league.
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They can do this because FIFA have expanded the 2026 World Cup and thus simplified the European qualification process. Instead of using that to give players a much-needed breather, UEFA have added matches elsewhere.
FIFA Reforms
The world football governing body is far from innocent when it comes to the congested fixture list of big clubs like Bayern and their players, quite the opposite! They have expanded the World Cup to a whopping 48 teams, which will put the number of World Cup matches into the triple digits for each quadrennial tournament.
To make matters worse, the 2030 edition will stretch across three continents, which will be a total logistical nightmare.
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We haven’t even mentioned the remade Club World Cup, which from 2025 will take place every four years with 32 teams, including 12 of the best European sides. This will happen in the summer when contracts expire and the transfer window is open.
Ahead of this season, Bayern honourary President Uli Hoeneß criticised football authorities for this congested fixture list, calling it “madness” and saying, “Enough is enough”.
It is certainly understandable that FIFA and UEFA have the need to expand the game, but this quantity of matches destroys quality and harms teams as well as players.
