La Liga has been forced to change the days of its fixtures for the opening weekend of the season, just two days before they were due to start. The Spanish league announced on Wednesday night it had given in to the “nonsense” of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), in order to avoid “irreparable sporting damage to the clubs”.
It is the latest in a number of disputes between Spanish football’s two governing bodies, who have been at loggerheads over scheduling for more than a year. La Liga is keen to stretch games from Fridays to Mondays to maximise television revenues while the federation is determined to keep matches to Saturdays and Sundays only.
“In order to avoid irreparable sporting damage to the clubs affected by this nonsense of the RFEF (Spanish Football Federation), La Liga has rescheduled the matches initially scheduled for Friday and Monday for this first day,” La Liga said in a statement.
It means the season’s original curtain-raiser between Granada and Athletic Bilbao, initially scheduled for today at 9:00pm (1900 GMT), will be played tomorrow at 6:30pm. And Alaves against Real Betis on Monday at 9:00pm has been brought forward to Sunday 2:00pm.
The first game of the season will instead be Eibar against Celta Vigo at Ipurua tomorrow at 4:00pm. All matches are still without fans. But La Liga announced its “firm intention” to puts its case to the government’s Ministry for Sport regarding the second round of league games, which also has kick-offs on Friday and Monday night.
A judge in Madrid is due to decide on October 6 which organisation has the final say on the scheduling of matches. La Liga is responsible for the top two divisions in Spain while the federation oversees the third tier and below, as well as the women’s top flight.
Reigning champions Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla will all sit out the opening weekend after being given extra time off following their involvement in European competitions last term. After winning last year’s La Liga title with a relentless final sprint, Real Madrid are betting on practically the same group of players as they seek to successfully defend a domestic crown for the first time since 2008.
With their finances squeezed by the Covid-19 pandemic and their squad already well rounded, Real have had neither the resources nor the desire this summer to make the glamorous signings for which they are renowned.
The only new addition to Zinedine Zidane’s squad looks to be Norwegian midfielder Martin Odegaard, who returns after spending the last few years on loan across Europe before coming of age with a splendid campaign in La Liga with Real Sociedad. 
Odegaard adds yet more intelligence and class to a midfield already overflowing with talent and experience and will help ease the creative burden on Toni Kroos, 30, and Luka Modric, who has just turned 35.
Real also have an outstanding defence, conceding only 25 times last year, and are well covered in every position. If there is one area of concern for Zidane’s side it is in attack, with a huge gap existing between Karim Benzema and his fellow forwards.
Benzema, who played more minutes than anyone in the team last season, was Real’s leading scorer by some distance with 22 goals, followed by defender Sergio Ramos on 11. Vinicius Jr. was the second top scoring forward with three goals, while 60mn euro ($71.06mn) striker Luka Jovic netted twice and injury-plagued Eden Hazard, who cost over 100mn euros, scored once.
Hazard has a lot to do to justify his price tag and is already facing criticism in the Spanish media due to his fitness levels, while the exciting-yet-raw Vinicius badly needs to improve his finishing skills. Zidane, however, has always said the fact that his team can find goals from all over the pitch is a virtue.
If he can sustain the bloody-minded determination to win games even without playing well which was on display so often last term, his side have an excellent chance of defending their title. The state of Real’s rivals will also give them plenty of reasons to believe.
Barcelona are still reeling from a dismal finale to the season and are in the middle of a squad overhaul led by new coach Ronald Koeman, while Atletico Madrid and Sevilla still appear to lack what it takes to sustain a proper title bid. Having watched in frustration as Barcelona have dominated La Liga for more than a decade, Real could hardly ask for better conditions to start building a domestic dynasty of their own.