The Clasico clash between Barcelona and Real Madrid scheduled for next Saturday, October 26 at Camp Nou is set to be postponed and played in December due to the current security issues in Catalonia.
Barcelona has been brought virtually to a standstill since Monday with days of protests after nine separatist Catalan leaders were handed long jail sentences for ‘sedition and misuse of public funds’ by the Supreme Court in Madrid following their role in the referendum on independence in October 2017, which was considered illegal by the Spanish state.
Amid the disturbances, violent clashes between police and protestors on the streets and political tension in the Catalan capital, La Liga proposed switching the Camp Nou match to the Santiago Bernabeu, with the return to be played in Madrid next year.
Both clubs told the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) they were against that idea and Barca boss Ernesto Valverde said on Thursday: “It's true that there has been talk of switching the fixture and for the first match to be played at the Bernabeu, but we are not convinced by that.
“We have a match on Wednesday and would need to travel away again. Not only because of that, but we would also like to respect the schedule and the supporters. The normal thing would be to play at our ground.”
But with a big protest march planned for Saturday in Barcelona, the RFEF and La Liga have decided to move the game and are working with the two clubs to find a new date for the fixture, which is now likely to be played in December.
“We have called the two clubs, they presented their arguments and we are working on a solution,” RFEF president Luis Rubiales said on Thursday.
“We hope to have one as soon as possible because there are people affected, fans’ trips [to be sorted out], tickets, press…”
The Federation had put forward December 18 as a possible new date for the Clasico, but La Liga are concerned that playing the fixture in midweek would have a negative impact financially on the television companies with rights to broadcast the fixture.
La Liga would prefer to schedule the game for December 7, bringing forward Barcelona’s home game against Mallorca and Real Madrid’s meeting with Espanyol at the Bernabeu by three days in order to clear a space for the Clasico to take place on the Saturday at Camp Nou.
