Real to begin title defence at Almeria

Real Madrid will begin the defence of their Spanish league title away to Almeria on 14 August and Barcelona host Rayo Vallecano the same weekend, LaLiga said on Thursday. With the World Cup in Qatar scheduled to be played for the first time in the middle of the European domestic season, the LaLiga campaign will […]

Real Madrid will begin the defence of their Spanish league title away to Almeria on 14 August and Barcelona host Rayo Vallecano the same weekend, LaLiga said on Thursday.

With the World Cup in Qatar scheduled to be played for the first time in the middle of the European domestic season, the LaLiga campaign will not end until next June.

The World Cup is due to start on 21 November and LaLiga will resume on 31 December, two weeks after the final.

The Clasico meetings between Real Madrid and Barcelona will be over the weekend of 16 October at Santiago Bernabeu and the weekend of 19 March at Camp Nou.