#fixture-congestion

#fixture-congestion

Are soccer's major competitions bloated? Probably. Is the sport's calendar bursting at the seams? Absolutely. And do these extended competitions give us even more stories to follow and offer more clubs access to moments they'll talk about forever? Absolutely. Over the next two weeks, 16 teams will vie for the eight remaining spots in the Champions League round of 16. Clubs such as Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Inter Milan will look to right their league phase wrongs.

To be honest, I think it's important for the team's confidence to win and take the three points, but I'm not sure it's the best thing, because if we qualify in the top eight, we won't play in the play-offs," Luis Enrique said ahead of meeting Sporting CP on Tuesday. "And we'll already be missing the Coupe de France matches. But it's certain that the objective is to win and finish in the top eight teams, even if I'm not sure that's the best thing. It's contradictory.

For many years, the Serie A schedule has been a hot topic among calcio faithfuls. Between an increasingly packed season and a willingness to increase the league's visibility, there have inevitably been some clashes. Player health doesn't seem to be on top of the agenda, let's put it that way, but it's also clear that the Lega Serie A have a more difficult job than ever.

"I think I see a lot of similarities to first head coach job [at Brondby]," he said. "Although different scale. "This is one of the biggest clubs in the world, so makes it a bigger and different challenge."

The crunch Christmas period is upon us. Gameweeks 18-21 will bring four deadlines in 11 days between 26 December and 6 January. Expect heavy rotation, injuries, suspensions and continued absences due to the Africa Cup of Nations. There is nothing to panic about though. This is the time that FPL managers who plan well, stay engaged with their teams and don't miss deadlines often gain in ranks and mini-leagues.

Crystal Palace's injury woes continue to mount up as they make their way through a hugely congested run of fixtures, with Manchester City's visit to Selhurst Park on Sunday afternoon next on the agenda. Oliver Glasner's side have nonetheless remained in excellent form and last weekend climbed to fourth in the Premier League table thanks to their victory away to Fulham.

Wilfried Nancy has finally arrived at Celtic, with promises of "exciting, attacking, winning football". But before principles come priorities. Martin O'Neill leaves having closed the eight-point deficit with Heart of Heart of Midlothian, so the Frenchman can begin his Celtic Park tenure by taking his new side to the top of the Scottish Premiership with victory over the faltering early leaders on Sunday.

I'm happy to have this team, but I'm a little concerned about the noises I hear around the team and the individual prizes given to players, because football is a team sport. You have to be ready to work as a team, prizes don't interest me. It's different because there's a lot of recognition [this season]. I don't want to talk about the past, but about the future. Fewer prizes and more concentration, that's what we want.

It's going to be a really good game. I think it's going to be competitive and there's an edge between both teams after our competition last year. They're very much similar to how they played last year, a similar shape and they've made a few improvements and some shrewd signings. They've done really well. We know Charlton are going to be very competitive in terms of the way they play, similar to the Portsmouth game in many respects, but we're prepared for that.

Let us first start to win again, that is my main focus. Maybe last season we were more lucky and now we are more unlucky. But, there are no excuses for our results before people say this. It is nothing to do with the squad depth, it is how we've gone throughout the season in terms of injuries and availability.