Barcelona and Paris St Germain are still uncertain to qualify for this year's Champions League group stage. And they will need to complete this task without Gavi and Warren Zaire-Emery.
Imagine what the consequences would be if both teams were relegated to the Europa League in December? It would be a financial disaster for the Blaugrana and a catastrophic embarrassment for PSG.
Of course, this is just a hypothesis and the possibility of it happening is not high. But after all, if there were all the top stars, things would be easier for Barca and PSG.
Real Madrid have passed the Champions League group stage early, but the loss of both Eduardo Camavinga and Vinicius in the next few months will increase the injury list. Previously, Thibaut Courtois, Eder Militao and Aurelien Tchouameni were all long-term absentees.
For the Spanish Super Cup semi-final against Atletico Madrid on January 10, if there were no miracles, Real Madrid would be without most of the current stars on the injury list.
However, the biggest victim in this story is the players.
FIFPRO has recently released some shocking statistics. Vinicius, at the age of 22, has played 18,876 minutes at club and national team level. That is more than double that of Ronaldinho of the same age.
Pedri, who has suffered from long-term injuries, has played more than 12,000 minutes in his 20s. That was 25% more than Xavi of the same age. Kylian Mbappe, at 24, has played 26,952 minutes, 48% more than Thierry Henry of the same age. Jude Bellingham also has 30% more playing time than Wayne Rooney at the same age on his 20th birthday.
Before turning 20, David Beckham had played 829 minutes for the first team and Steven Gerrard for 2,853. Bellingham's total playing minutes when they reached that age in June were 14,445 minutes.
Vinicius is currently sidelined with an hamstring injury while on duty for Brazil. Remember, from August to April last season, he traveled a total of more than 56,000 km to do national missions. That is what makes the body tired and hinders the recovery process.
With both the Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup having significantly increased the number of matches from the next season onwards, FIFPRO has made some suggestions.
They recommend that players take at least 28 days off between seasons. Players must be guaranteed to have at least 14 days off in a season (no competition or training).
The schedule is as dense as a crushing machine, guggling the physical strength, mental health and resilience of all the top players.
It is time to treat top football players as humans, not machines...
