La Liga would resume on June 11 with the Sevilla derby between Real Betis and Sevilla. The following weekends would see the remaining matches of the round.
Real Madrid's Brazilian defender Marcelo kicks the ball during the Spanish league football match between Real Madrid CF and RC Celta de Vigo at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on March 16, 2019. (GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP)
Real Madrid footballer Marcelo has expressed his excitement over the resumption of La Liga and said that he could not wait further to play in Spain’s top-flight.
“We had never gone so long without being able to train out on the pitch and our desire to play football has been growing ever since we stopped. Now we’re close to getting going again and we can’t wait,” Marcelo was quoted as saying on the official website of Real Madrid.
“It’s been different to what we’re used to. We have to take the positives from it and now we’re used to the routine; it’s not like it used to be but everything’s good. We’re all healthy, the training sessions have been fantastic in recovering our rhythm. Having not touched a ball for so long, when you go back out on the pitch you’ve lost your touch a bit, but now we just can’t wait to start playing games,” he added.
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La Liga has remained suspended since March due to the crisis caused by the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. But with the number of fresh cases decreasing massively, Spain’s Higher Council of Sports (CSD) announced that it had agreed with the plans of the Royal Spanish Federation (REFF) to restart the top-flight league.
According to their announcement, the league would resume on June 11 with the Sevilla derby between Real Betis and Sevilla. The following weekends of June 13 and 14 would see the remaining matches of the round.
In the last few weeks, players have been slowly and steadily making their way back to their respective training grounds. What started with footballers practicing individually, last week became up to 10 players at a time and now, the number has risen up to 14.
“Our plan for kick-off times during the week would be to play in the afternoon or evening, between 7:30-8pm or 9:30-10pm.
“Over the weekend, there would be three slots: 5pm, 7:30 pm, 9:30 or 10 pm. It hasn’t been decided yet, we’re looking at it with our broadcasters.
“But obviously, we’d plan for those 5pm games to be those played up on Spain’s northern coast. Places like Bilbao and San Sebastian, Oviedo and Gijon in LaLiga SmartBank, Depor and Celta over in Galicia, where temperatures in June and July don’t exceed 28°C,” La Liga president Javier Tebas had said about the timings.
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