Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde insists this month’s El Clásico against Real Madrid should be played at the Camp Nou as scheduled.
El Mundo reported earlier on Thursday that the Spanish FA’s Competition Committee look set to delay the highly-anticipated encounter until 18 December.
The match is scheduled to be played at the Blaugrana’s Camp Nou stadium on 26 October but due to the current volatility of the situation, La Liga asked that the game be reversed to Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
That proposal has been rejected by both of the clubs involved and with such a fluid period of unrest in Catalonia, the most likely option is that the match is pushed back by two months.
“This game can perfectly take place, it's a good opportunity to play it with normalcy. To play would show all the haters that yes, it can be done,” Valverde told his press conference on Thursday, as cited by ESPN FC.
“That is the date it was set. The game is going to be played without problems. This is my opinion but I don't know what decision they [competition committee of the Spanish FA] will take.
“Would it alter the competition if game is postponed? I don't know. Last year we were talking about a possible game that we were going to play in the U.S. which didn't happen. One day it will be played.”
“I would prefer to play it (as scheduled) as would my players.”
Valverde was then asked his opinions on the scenes of unrest across Barcelona over the past week: “There are things that are not nice to see these past few days in Barcelona. I hope this is a one-time thing and that politicians can find common ground.
“Who would a postponement benefit? I don't know. We would go into the game having one day less to rest than Real Madrid so I guess if you look at it that way, it would be us. However, in these type of games that is not that important as players are always ready to play these games.”
