Real Madrid’s team this season is not young, with an average age of 27.4. Their mainstays are now “hash-age” old men as well. But, thanks to fitness coach Antonio Pintus, they all became athletes. So, what is the Italian expert’s secret?
Despite working in the best football setting for almost three decades, Antonio Pintus’ name has always been shrouded in mystery. Because the expert, who was born in Turin, Italy, is a man of few words and dislikes giving interviews.
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As a result, El Mundo reporter had to call persons close to Pintus to learn more about this mystҽrious man. Gustavo Poyet and Carlos Cuellar have both worked with the Italian expert for varying lengths of time.
Poyet initially encountered Pintus in 1998, when the fitness coach visited Chelsea at Gianluca Vialli’s suggestion. “We were a bit unlucky when Pintus arrived at Chelsea four months after Vialli, because it was an unforgettable pre-season training session,” the former Uruguayan midfielder recalls.
He tortured us and nearly killed us.” But the “torture” succeeded when Poyet scored the game-winning goal for the Blues against Real Madrid in the European Super Cup a few weeks later.
Although he would not wish to work with Pintus again, the former midfielder believes that the team’s fitness has improved significantly. Poyet also stated that she keeps in touch with her 5-year-old friend on a daily basis: “Whenever I need advice, I always call Antonio.” He is a man who is never satisfied and is continuously learning and improving his methods.” When Poyet was hired as Sunderland manager instead of Paolo Di Canio in October 2013, he called Pintus for assistance.
Carlos Cuellar was one of Pintus’ “victims” in Sunderland during the time. “Antonio was always two steps ahead of others,” recalls the former Spain midfielder. We were startled when he affixed a GPS device to his body and began calculating the distance traveled, acceleration speed, and pulse rate of each player.” That is now commonplace, yet it was novel 9 years ago.
Pintus also creates exercises tailored to each position, so a central defender like Cuellar does not need to run as much as a full-back. The results were also swift, as Sunderland won four games in three weeks in April and May 2014 to avoid relegation. And Pintus is still working marvels at the Bernabeu.
This season, the Italian expert has helped Real Madrid dramatically minimize the amount of injuries. He also assisted in the development of Los Blancos’ age cornerstones Luka Modric (36), Karim Benzema (34), Toni Kroos (32), Casemiro, Dan Carvajal (both 30), Thibaut Courtois and David Alaba (both 29).
Also as a result of better fitness, Madrid has scored 24 goals in the final 15 minutes of a La Liga match, the most compared to the top four teams in the other major European leagues, Man City (15 goals), Milan (15), Bayern (16), and PSG (19).
That’s a really respectable figure. Because, according to a recent CIES research, La Liga is presently the most physically demanding league in Europe, with an average travel distance of 103.7 km/match and an average high-speed travel distance of 803.9 m, compared to the Premier League’s 100.8 km and 790.1 m. As a result, Manchester City should be wary of Real Madrid’s “old men.”