First El Clasico to be played on December 23: La Liga President
text_fields
Madrid: The first El Clasico of the Spanish La Liga season between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona will be played on December 23, La Liga president Javier Tebas said.
The marquee tie was originally scheduled for December 20.
"It (Madrid vs. Barca) will be played on Saturday, Dec. 23 at 1 p.m.," Tebas told Onda Cero on Sunday.
"We have recently notified the national and international TV operators of this so that they know because that week what we are going to do in La Liga is have games on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday (December 19-23).
"On Saturday, we will have three games. We want to make it a very special week of football because of the Christmas holiday. We are working hard to make it special," he added.
In the International Champions Cup pre-season tournament, Real were without Cristiano Ronaldo and lost to Barcelona 3-2 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
Madrid thrashed Barca last month winning 5-1 on aggregate to lift the Spanish Super Cup.