While the finishing touches are put in place for the Premier League’s Project Restart programme, over in Spain the resumption of the La Liga season has been ratified.
And, according to the respected Spanish sports paper Marca, that will include a solid 32 days of action, prior to the final two rounds of matches being played on July 15 and July 19.
Football fans that have been missing the beautiful game will be delighted by the decision of Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, who has signed off on the plans which will see at least one game played every day from mid-June to mid-July.
The action will kick off on June 11 with the Seville derby, and in a further boost to UK viewers all of the games will be shown for free in one form or another. Premier Sports owns the broadcasting rights for La Liga, and they will allow Sky Sports to show games for free to their present subscribers, while those without a Sky package can tune in – for free – by downloading the Premier Player app.
And in a fantastic show of goodwill, La Liga and the broadcast company Mediapro have confirmed that all of the remaining games will be shown for free in care homes in Spain.
Game On
The complete La Liga schedule is not yet known, but a full release is expected soon as organisers try to work out a way around the roasting hot temperatures of the Spanish summer.
The Spanish Football Federation has a rule in place which prevents matches between May-September kicking off any earlier than 19:30 CET – which is 18:30 in the UK.
That complicates matters as it rules out the possibility of afternoon kick-offs at the weekend, so hence why games will be played every evening for a near five-week period.
There is a caveat, however, that games can be played earlier in the day if it can be proven five days in advance that the temperature will be below 30°C – the average temperature in Madrid and Barcelona in June/July is around that mark.
According to Marca, while not confirmed they believe some of the big games that will dictate the conclusion to the La Liga campaign will take place on the following dates:
| Date | Time (UK) | Home | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun-14 | 21:00 | Real Madrid | Eibar |
| Jun-15 | 20:30 | Mallorca | Barcelona |
| Jun-17 | 20:30 | Real Madrid | Valencia |
| Jun-20 | 16:00 | Real Sociedad | Real Madrid |
| Jun-21 | 21:00 | Sevilla | Barcelona |
| Jun-24 | 20:30 | Barcelona | Athletic Bilbao |
| Jun-30 | 18:30 | Barcelona | Atletico Madrid |
| Jul-01 | 20:30 | Real Madrid | Getafe |
| Jul-03 | 20:30 | Villarreal | Barcelona |
| Jul-15 | 20:30 | Real Madrid | Villarreal |
| Jul-19 | 20:30 | Alaves | Barcelona |
| Jul-19 | 20:30 | Leganes | Real Madrid |
All of the games will be played behind closed doors at the home venue as listed.
Heading into the break in the season, Barcelona held a two-point cushion over Real Madrid, although both teams have the odd tricky fixture in their run-in.
The Galacticos face Valencia and Real Sociedad back-to-back in a three-day stint that will royally test their title credentials, while Barcelona’s trips to Villarreal and Sevilla are also fraught with danger.
Either way, it will be fantastic to have Spanish football back on our screens!