El Clasico date set by La Liga to avoid schedule clash with major sporting event | OneFootball

The first El Clasico of the season is now only one day away, with Real Madrid and Barcelona preparing to face off at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday evening. The visitors will only had three days of rest ahead of the match, while Los Blancos played their Champions League fixture against Borussia Dortmund 24 hours prior (on Tuesday).

The match kicks off at 9pm CET, which is unusual for El Clasico. Meetings between Real Madrid and Barcelona have tended to be Saturday afternoon or Sunday evening, depending on the preferences of La Liga. However, there is a reason for the decision this time around.

As per MD, La Liga decided that the match would be played on Saturday instead of Sunday so as to avoid a clash with Formula 1’s Mexican Grand Prix, which is set to start at 9pm CET. The two events would have started at the same time, and for La Liga, this would have meant a reduced viewership.

DAZN will show both events in Spain, and they also welcome this decision by La Liga. It remains to be seen whether the reduced rest affects either Real Madrid or Barcelona.