Here is some more good news for football fans worldwide. As the world fights to re-emerge amidst the novel Coronavirus pandemic threats, LaLiga has released the dates and schedule to resume the suspended season.
The action in the top flight Spanish professional football league will restart from June 11 and the season is slated to conclude on July 19.
The first round of games following the coronavirus shutdown will be played over four days. Strong title contenders and league leaders Barcelona start at Mallorca on June 13 and Real Madrid at home to Eibar the next day.
The following match day will run from Monday, June 15 to Thursday, June 18. Barcelona will host Leganes on June 16 while Madrid take on Valencia in the capital two days later.
LIVE action in India
All the LaLiga action will be broadcast LIVE in India on FacebookLIVE, the official broadcast partner of the league.
The league will resume with the Valencia Derby, pitting Valencia FC against Levante UD and applause from the fans across the world via ‘The Applause of Infinity’ initiative.
LaLiga president Javier Tebas has confirmed that there will be games on every day of the week. The LaLiga president also revealed a project to involve LaLiga fans in matches, which will be played behind closed doors for the time being. The Applause to Infinity initiative will see applause from fans from across the world played out in stadiums in the 20th minute of matches.
Weekdays will feature regular match slots at 19:30 and 22:00 Central European Timing (10.30 am to 2.00 pm), while regular match times for weekend fixtures will be 17:00 CET (8:30 pm IST), 19:30 CET (11:00 pm IST) and 22:00 CET (2:00 pm IST). The first of these slots will be reserved for games played in the north of Spain, where June and July temperatures are milder than the rest of the country. In addition, if the weather conditions are favourable, one more weekend match slot will be included at 13:00 CET (4:30 pm IST). Over 40 LaLiga Santander and LaLiga SmartBank games are planned to be played each week.
Applause to Infinity
The Applause to Infinity project is an initiative which will involve LaLiga fans from all over the world and pay tribute to the heroes who are fighting to overcome the current global health pandemic.
The restart of the league season will see all LaLiga teams forced to play behind closed doors due to the exceptional measures taken to deal with the pandemic. Applause to Infinity will, however, ensure that fans’ presence is felt during every LaLiga Santander and LaLiga SmartBank match, with their applause ringing out in stadiums in the 20th minute.
Make your applause heard!
LaLiga has created www.applausetoinfinity.com where fans from all over the world can upload applause in support of their club as well as the heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic. A single track will then be created using sounds from across the globe and played in stadiums in the 20th minute of matches. The applause will help build a wall of sound in commemoration of the heroic efforts that have been made to overcome the crisis.
“Supporters in the stands make football complete but now, due to reasons beyond their control, they won’t be able to be there. We have created this initiative to help fans be a part of LaLiga’s return and also as an opportunity for them to show their support for the heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic. We want them to feel close to their team, even if they cannot be in the stadiums cheering them on, and for players to feel the support of their fans,” said Javier Tebas.
The season should be completed by July 19. “We want next season to start September 12,” La Liga president Javier Tebas told Movistar. “We have designed the schedule to give each team at least 72 hours of rest between matches… We will update the schedule two match days at a time to take into account the weather conditions, which are known two weeks in advance.”
Barcelona led Real Madrid by two points at the top of the table when the season was halted in March. The arch-foes, the frontrunners for the crown, will be playing their remaining fixtures on the following dates.
Barcelona’s remaining fixtures June 13: Real Mallorca (A); June 16: Leganes (H); June 21: Sevilla (A); June 24: Athletic Bilbao (H); June 28: Celta Vigo (A); July 1: Atletico Madrid (H); July 5: Villarreal (A); July 8: Espanyol (H); July 12: Real Valladolid (A); July 15: Osasuna (H); July 19: Deportivo Alaves (A).
Real Madrid’s remaining fixtures: June 14: Eibar (H); June 18: Valencia (H); June 21: Real Sociedad (A); June 24: Real Mallorca (H); June 28: Espanyol (A); July 1: Getafe (H); July 5: Athletic Bilbao (A); July 8: Deportivo Alaves (H); July 12: Granada (A); July 15: Villarreal (H); July 19: Leganes (A).