Madrid players' most feared test: "They don't like it very much..."

Antonio Pintus, Real Madrid's physical trainer, acknowledged that his players "don't really like" physical tests with hypoxia masks, like the ones he used on Wednesday at the Ciudad Deportiva Real Madrid, but he thanked the players for their professionalism in using them, "at this time of the season".

"The players don't like it very much because it's very hard and that's why I thank the players who do this at this time of the season, they are very professional," he explained on 'Real Madrid TV' after training. A session on Wednesday in which he used hypoxia masks, which are already a working tool in his planning.

These are placed over the mouth and nose of the footballers and regulate the oxygen that enters the organism and measure the pulsations per minute, the heart rate and the general state of each player, simulating a highly demanding training session, as if they were training at high altitude even though they are working on the grass of the Ciudad Deportiva Real Madrid de Valdebebas.

"It's a test to know the state of fitness, the physical condition of the players at this stage of the season," he said. "The masks are used to analyse the oxygen that reaches the lungs and the carbon dioxide that they expire. The analysis of both allows us to know the fatigue thresholds of the players at this time," he added. This data is then used to plan the day-to-day training sessions.

"With the computer you can assess whether a player at the moment needs more long run work, short run work or to see that we are doing well, like two years ago," he said.