"Given the level of chaotic mediocrity Real Madrid showed on Sunday, squeaking past nine-man Rayo Vallecano 2-1 in LaLiga, there was a nice comic touch from coach Álvaro Arbeloa in reminding his critical postmatch audience: "Look, I'm not Gandalf the Wizard!" Maybe Arbeloa reached for the "Lord of the Rings" reference because he knows that in the next couple of weeks, he's about to put his squad under the control of a man many have felt to be as merciless as any dark J.R.R. Tolkien character."
"Antonio Pintus is pocket-sized, affable, wrinkled and grizzled. He is easily one of football's most notorious, successful, occasionally controversial fitness coaches, but also one of the game's most revered and interesting. Watch his interactions with his footballers on matchday, or while they're traveling to matches, and you'd easily think: "My god, they adore him!" But trust me, there will be moments in the coming days when Madrid's players will curse his name, pray for respite and glower resentfully at the 63-year-old Italian."
Real Madrid scraped a 2-1 win over nine-man Rayo Vallecano, prompting coach Álvaro Arbeloa to deflect criticism with a humorous Gandalf remark. Antonio Pintus, a compact and grizzled Italian fitness coach, returns as head of physical conditioning and is expected to impose strenuous training regimes. Pintus has a record of success and controversy, accumulating around thirty trophies across clubs such as Juventus, Inter Milan, Chelsea and AS Monaco. Players publicly show affection for Pintus but also fear and resent the intensity of his methods. Pintus's reinstatement contributed directly to Xabi Alonso's departure after Alonso refused to replace his own fitness coach.
Read at ESPN.com
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