The date is April 12th. Real Madrid beats Chelsea in extra time, and advances to the Champions League semi-finals. The 17th of April. It is been five days. Sevilla, who had not played for nine days, led 2-0 at halftime and then conceded four goals (one of which was controversially disallowed) to lose and see how the whites became closer to winning the league.

What happened to Real Madrid last week was a true reflection of how, physically, the white team has arrived at the season's final stretch. Antonio Pintus is the main person responsible for this. After 47 games this season, the physical trainer's plan has proven to be a complete success, exceeding the roadmap set last summer.

Pintus returned to Real Madrid as a club signing. It was necessary to put an end to the injury crisis and increase the level of energy. The 62 injuries and some poor results (such as the 0-0 draws against Betis and Getafe on League matchdays 32 and 33, respectively) forced the club to address the physical issue.

The players and Carlo Ancelotti have repeated the same message several times during the last week: "We are in good shape as we approach the end of the season."

During the season, the 'Pintus method' marked an evolutionary line. It started off strong (no games lost from October 31 to January 1), then faltered in the middle (between January and February) before rebounding in the final stretch, as seen in recent weeks.

Throughout this process, injuries were addressed, reducing the number of casualties to 43 and halting the bleeding of muscular problems that had plagued the team for the previous two seasons.

The perfect cocktail is created by incorporating the players' own mentality. Without their strength, players like Modric and Benzema, who are 36 and 34 years old, would not look as good physically.

The recent comebacks against PSG, Chelsea, and Sevilla are explained by them and the hunger of the youngsters, as well as the'sergeant' plan. The white team has scored 9 of its 22 goals in the last 15 minutes of matches since the beginning of March.

Pintus himself took to the stage on Monday through Real Madrid's official TV to explain why the team is in such good physical shape: "The fault, first and foremost, lies with the players. They have the ability to withstand the very hard work to which we subject them very frequently, as well as all the cane we give them. "Everything begins with "very hard" preseason work and an "intense and long" career, as he explains.

For the remainder of the course, he is "quite optimistic": "The physical data, with the tests we did, show us that the team is doing very well at an aerobic level. In this final stretch, the most important thing is to work on small things individually to put the boys to the top until the end", Pintus finished saying on Realmadrid TV.