The powers that be at the Santiago Bernabeu appear to be up in arms at the new La Liga schedule, with the Real Madrid hierarchy apparently believing that it favours arch rivals, Barcelona.
The Catalans lead Los Blancos in the Spanish top flight by two points, and the rescheduled matches, which begin again this coming weekend, have Barca playing first in the opening four match days.
“Oh what a coincidence!” was the reaction in the Real club offices according to AS, and it would appear that their ire stems from the fact that the timings of matches have been altered.
Had the games been played as originally planned, then the first of those – Real Madrid v Eibar – would’ve taken place 24 hours before Barcelona’s fixture in Mallorca, per AS.
Given that Los Blancos are currently two points behind, an expected win over the Basque club would’ve seen Zinedine Zidane’s side at the top of the table by a single point and thus putting Barca under pressure.
Now, those fixtures have been reversed, with Barca potentially able to go five points clear on Saturday before Real take on Eibar this Sunday.
The same scenario will play out for at least the following three games, and it remains to be seen if Real’s protestations are taken on board by the league when it comes to scheduling the next few matches thereafter.