Antonio Pintus: Real Madrid's secret 12th man

While speaking to the camera in the Real Madrid dressing room during the most recent Champions League final, Luka Modric gave Antonio Pintus a kiss. It was Real Madrid's 14th win in the competition, the third with the Italian.

Prior to beginning to work on getting his players in shape, the 60-year-old runs nine kilometres every morning along the streets around Valdebebas.

One of the undeniable keys to Real Madrid's current success is Pintus.

"He's a great person, with a smile on his face all the time," Miguel Gutierrez, Real Madrid's former left-back who moved to Girona this season, said.

Adapting his methods

There might not even be a Pintus technique in reality. And if there is, it comes down to a focus on his work that is obsessive.

"Many times I'm playing with my children and I'm thinking about Kroos and Modric. My wife has to tell me, 'Antonio, be with us.'" Pintus told La Repubblica at the beginning of the summer.

If you try it, you buy it

"He really is a top physical trainer," admitted Uruguay's Gustavo Poyet, who is now in charge of the Greek national team. He met him in 1998 when he joined Chelsea.

"As a player he made me feel so good physically that when I had the opportunity to bring him to work with me I took him to Sunderland," Poyet added.

Since the majority of the coaches who have hired him were once his players, it appears that this characteristic has dominated much of his career.

The list of coaches who have trusted Pintus with their squads' physical preparation includes Gianfranco Zola, who did so while at West Ham.

"With him there were very few injuries," recalls Theo Hernandez, now at AC Milan.

"He knows very well how to talk to the player to improve fitness with hard work."

Chelsea's players had to go through a challenging preseason in 1998 under Pintus, also known as El Latigo (The Whip). In the 83rd minute of the 1998 European Super Cup match against Real Madrid, Gus Poyet scored with a right-footed shot. In the celebration that followed, everyone did a circle while grabbing their ankle and pulling their leg backwards, which is an activity that stretches the quadriceps.

"He was very insistent that we had to stretch and it was a kind of a joking dedication for him," Poyet stated.

Real Madrid, under Dupont, who returned for a second spell, were top of LaLiga in terms of injuries (62) and a club with veteran players. Physical problems were significantly reduced.

According to a figure published by El Mundo, the team scored 34 goals in the last half hour and won the LaLiga-Champions League double, against all odds. The unanimous opinion was that Pintus had been a sort of 12th player

"I can only say good things about Antonio," said a first-team player. "He is a methodical guy, who prepares the season well in advance.

"In the summer he asked us to activate our running so that we could arrive at the pre-season with a lot of strength in our legs. And then when you introduce the ball, you feel stronger in the run."

The most startling thing about this pre-season was seeing the team at Valdebebas using hypoxic masks to reduce oxygen levels and boost anaerobic capacity as well as endurance.

He considers a player's performance instead of the number of kilometres they have covered in a match, as well as their best and average speeds.

Even though he has dealt with players who are known for their problems, it is said of him that he leaves no player behind.

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