The traditional European club season came to a dramatic close on Saturday night amid chaotic scenes at the Stade de France where Real Madrid were, eventually, crowned champions of Europe.
Many of the players involved had accumulated over 60 games throughout the season, such is the price of success if you are a team like Liverpool, competing at the business end of four separate competitions.
Four days on and the international window is flung wide open as UEFA look to play catch-up with some left-over World Cup qualification play-offs, as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, before the latest instalment of the Nations League kicks in.
Four games in a ten-day period, it is no wonder many are complaining about the schedule and the effect it may have on players, including Northern Ireland manager Ian Baraclough.
"The demands put on the players nowadays, Jurgen Klopp described it as ridiculous," said Baraclough. "Now they're asked at the end of a long season to go into a Nations League campaign and play four games.
"It’s 12 months, all year round, and we’re just seeing more and more injuries. The ones we are seeing are fatigue injuries."
No such concerns for his southern counterpart Stephen Kenny, however, with most of the Republic squad idle these past few weeks since the Championship and League One concluded with just a handful of Premier League players finishing more recently, while Caoimhin Kelleher’s Champions League final duties ended up, as expected, as that of a spectator.
A World Cup year, traditionally, this upcoming week would have seen countries playing their final warm-up games and getting ready for the tournament to start, however, with the awarding of the event to Qatar, the FIFA showpiece has been moved to November.
Credit to UEFA for bringing the oft-criticised Nations League competition into the vacant slot in the calendar, and as a result, the football fan has plenty to look forward to before the mid-summer lull ahead of the new season.
The League of Ireland season is, of course, still in full flow throughout the extended evenings from June to August, although the mid-season break coincides nicely with Ireland’s four League B Group 1 fixtures.
First up for Ireland is the cross-continent trip to Yerevan to take on Armenia, before returning to Dublin for two games against Ukraine and Scotland, and then finishing off the schedule in Poland for the return match with Ukraine.
Stephen Kenny has been whetting the appetite of the country for this Nations League campaign for over a year now since stating that his team could feasibly win the group and progress to League A for the next edition, which would guarantee games with three top seed sides.
And Kenny put the preparation for the summer series in place 12 months ago when the end of season sojourn in Spain resulted in his side’s first victory – albeit Andorra – and has been credited with changing the team’s fortunes.
The last 12 months has seen a real upturn in the team’s results following a string of excellent performances that has created a run of 12 games with just the one defeat – that heartbreaking last-minute loss to Ronaldo and Portugal.
In fact, Ireland could not be better placed or prepared for the next fortnight of fixtures as all 27 squad members checked in, match fit, and ready to go.
A World Cup year, perhaps, but no place at the top table for Ireland in 2022 following a failed qualification campaign, and in reality, achievable goals like the one set out by the manager can fill that void for an Ireland squad already looking ahead to Euro 2024.
As it happens, Ireland’s Nations League campaign will start before it even begins, as group opponents Ukraine and Scotland meet in Wednesday’s World Cup play-off.
As a result, one or perhaps both teams will arrive into the Nations League games the following week downbeat from missing out on qualification, and should the winner of Wednesday’s game go on to beat Wales in the final on Sunday, it may place an opposite but equal sense of ennui in relation to the remaining summer fixtures.
Stephen Kenny would not rank the sides that Ireland will face over the next two weeks, as he is taking it on a game-by-game basis, focusing first on Armenia, however, he will stress the point to his players that the World Cup distraction will give his side a chance to get out in front in the group ahead of its conclusion in September.
"The progression of the team, we've seen the team evolve over a period of time, from March to March we scored 23 goals and the team has improved, keeping five clean sheets in the last six games, so we know it is a big incentive," said Kenny, speaking at Monday’s press conference.
"There is a lot of motivation there but we realise we have been drawn in a tough group - Ukraine, quarter-finalists at the Euros, a really exceptional team; Scotland are on a high as a nation at the moment and Armenia are improving.
"So we have a tough group but it is certainly our ambition to win the group. That is what we are trying to achieve."
"[But] I always look at it (playing several games in a short time) as an advantage," Kenny added.
"You know, psychologically, if you prepare well and you are ready for it physically you understand what's required.
"I always see it as an opportunity to get ahead of your rivals. I always liked those periods and said to players: 'this is our opportunity to get ahead now, other people will be worried about it, but we got to approach it the way that we can.'
"Sometimes when there is a disparity. For example, we played Serbia and it was our third game in six days and they had played Qatar and rest 11 players before they played us.
"If it is even for everyone I am happy with it. We know what we have to do. We know that we got four games and just have to plan accordingly."
Follow Armenia v Republic of Ireland (Saturday, 2pm) via our live blog on rte.ie/sport or on the RTÉ News app. Watch live coverage on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player commencing at 1pm.
