Real Madrid defender Nacho Fernandez has lamented the new El Clásico date as giving more rest to Barcelona ahead of the tie.
The match had been scheduled to be played at the Blaugrana’s Camp Nou stadium on 26 October but due to the current volatility of the political situation in Catalonia, La Liga asked that the game be reversed to Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
This request ruled out in favour of a postponement as both clubs had rejected the switch of venue and agreed on a new date, along with the Spanish FA.
The rearranged fixture has been confirmed for Wednesday 18 December with an 8pm kick-off local time.
However, the Catalan giants will have 29 hours more rest for the game as they travel to Real Sociedad for a 4.15pm (Spanish time) kick-off on Saturday 14 December with Madrid playing in Valencia the following day at 9pm.
“We would have liked to have the same rest as Barça, but we work to win,” Nacho explained, as cited by Marca.
“Any team would like to have the same rest hours as the rival team. But we have plenty of players to face that game with the greatest guarantees.
“In addition, we really want to play that game. We are not going to look for any excuse. We would have liked to have the same hours of rest, but we want to win.”
