La Liga to restart with Seville derby on June 11

FC Barcelona will play Real Mallorca on June 13; Real Madrid CF will host Eibar on June 14.

June 01, 2020 07:21 am | Updated 07:44 am IST - BARCELONA

Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona controls the ball during a training session at Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper in Barcelona, Spain.

Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona controls the ball during a training session at Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper in Barcelona, Spain.

Barcelona will recommence their bid to defend the Spanish title on Saturday June 13 away to Real Mallorca after a three-month pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while Real Madrid will host Eibar on June 14, organisers La Liga announced on Sunday.

The season kick backs into action with a local derby between Sevilla and Real Betis on June 11 and there will be fixtures for the following seven days, with Barca hosting Leganes on June 16 and Real playing at home to Valencia on June 18.

As in the Bundesliga, which earlier in May became the first major European league to start up again after being disrupted by the pandemic, all La Liga matches until the end of the season will take place without spectators.

Real Madrid will play their remaining six home games at the 6,000-capacity Estadio Alfredo di Stefano based at their training ground, a league source confirmed, as they are currently renovating their Santiago Bernabeu home.

Levante will also be making adjustments to their Ciutat de Valencia stadium when the season starts up again and confirmed last week they will play their final home games in the town of La Nucia, more than 150 kilometres away from their usual ground.

Barca were leading Real by two points after 27 matches when the campaign was postponed back in March due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Organisers have only released scheduling details for the first two rounds of fixtures although La Liga chief Javier Tebas confirmed that there will be matches every day of the week until the season is completed on July 19.

Tebas also gave details of a planned tribute to those who have died from the pandemic, whereby fans will be encouraged to make audio recordings of themselves applauding the victims, which will then be transmitted in the stadium and broadcast on television in the 20th minute of each match.

“Fans make football so special and as they cannot be in the stadiums we have created this initiative so they can play a part in the return of the competition and show their support for the heroes of COVID-19,” Tebas told television network Movistar .

“We want them to feel close to their clubs even though they will be in the stadiums making noise. This way, the players will also be able to hear the support of their fans.”

The Spanish top-flight is poised to be the second of Europe's top five leagues to resume after the Bundesliga, with England's Premier League re-starting on June 17 and Italy's Serie A kicking off again on June 20.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.