When Andreas Ekberg blew the whistle to signal the end of Spain's match with Germany last week, a few seconds after Mikel Oyarzabal made it 6-0 to La Roja and inflicted Die Mannschaft's all-time record competitive defeat, a cyclone ended. But a tornado began.
Any footballer who limped back to his club jubilantly imagining that the end of the torrid international season for the next four months meant any kind of respite was in for a horrible shock. From now until the Copa del Rey takes full flight in January, La Liga's biggest clubs, those competing in Europe, have only a couple of occasions when they aren't playing a match every three days.