Mourinho wanted 5pm kick-off

Jose Mourinho was keen for Real Madrid’s rearranged fixture at Rayo Vallecano to kick off at 5pm tomorrow.

The game has been delayed at least 24 hours after vandals cut wires inside the ground, causing half the stadium and its floodlights to lose power.

Reports suggest that the Football Federation and the Spanish League are confirming that the game will kick-off at 8pm local time – 7pm UK time. In turn, Sevilla's Monday night game at Deportivo will be delayed by 15 minutes, starting instead at 9.45pm local time, so as not to clash.

However, that Rayo-Real time is not the one that Real were pushing for, as the club’s sporting director Miguel Pardeza confirmed to the media this evening, before its confirmation reportedly came through.

“Given how tight the schedule is, it is best to play the game on Monday and at 5pm, because we are not assured that by 8pm [when it is dark] the problem will be resolved.

“That is the time that Mourinho has asked for and that we will support.”

 “This is a problem for them [Rayo]. We are here to defend our club. We have no responsibility for what happened. We are separate from this issue and no-one wants to defend our rights.”

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