English Premier League
Why Real Madrid and Barcelona will miss La Liga’s opening weekend
Real Madrid and Barcelona will not feature in the opening round of La Liga’s 2026-27 season after their first-round matches were postponed under an exceptional measure designed to give players involved in the latter stages of the 2026 FIFA World Cup more time to recover.
The Spanish league season begins on Saturday, but neither of the country’s two biggest clubs will be in action. Real Madrid’s match against Real Sociedad and Barcelona’s meeting with Athletic Club remain officially part of the opening round, although both will be played later in August.
The Royal Spanish Football Federation introduced a special rule allowing clubs with players who had taken part in a World Cup semi-final or final to delay their first-round fixture until 25, 26 or 27 August.
The measure was required because of the unusual structure of the season. The 2026 World Cup will finish only a short time before the scheduled start of the Spanish league, leaving limited opportunity for players who go deep into the tournament to rest, return to their clubs and prepare for domestic competition.
Both Real Madrid and Barcelona met the criteria after having large numbers of players continue with their national teams into the final stages of the World Cup.
Real Madrid’s rearranged fixture against Real Sociedad will take place on Wednesday, 26 August, at Santiago Bernabeu. However, that will not be the club’s first appearance in La Liga under manager Jose Mourinho.
Instead, Real Madrid will begin their campaign four days earlier, on 22 August, when they travel to face Espanyol in a match from the second round. They will therefore play their second-round fixture before completing the match officially assigned to the opening round.
It is an unusual sequence created by the changes to the league calendar, with the order of the club’s first two matches effectively reversed.
Barcelona face a similar situation. Their home game against Athletic Club has been moved from the first round to Thursday, 27 August, when it will be played at Spotify Camp Nou.
The Catalan club, the reigning champions under Hansi Flick, will start their title defence before that postponed fixture. Barcelona are due to visit Elche on 23 August in a second-round match.
Four days later, they will return to Spotify Camp Nou to face Athletic Club, meaning their season will already have begun before they complete their official opening-round assignment.
The arrangement means the opening round of La Liga will run far beyond the first weekend. It will begin on Saturday with Deportivo Alaves against Getafe and will not be completed until 27 August, stretching across almost two weeks before every fixture has been played.
