This weekend's 2021-22 La Liga Round 9 clash between Real Madrid and Athletic Club has been postponed until a later date. It was originally scheduled to take place on Saturday, but it has been canceled, as officially confirmed. "The CSD has communicated to LaLiga the approval of the precautionary request for postponement requested, corresponding to Day 9 of LaLiga Santander," said La Liga in a statement.
This request for postponement responds to the already known fact of the extension by FIFA of the international period of Conmebol selections until Thursday night, October 14 (early morning of Friday 15, in Spain).
That affects, among others, the aforementioned clubs due to play their official UEFA Champions League matches on Tuesday 19 October. The dates and times for holding the postponed matches will be communicated by LaLiga in the coming days."
Real Madrid vs Athletic Club: Why was the La Liga 2021-22 match postponed?
The Spanish Higher Sports Council states that the game was postponed in order to give Los Blancos' South American players time to recover after the international break. FIFA's decision to delay matches for several South American teams, notably Brazil and Argentina, until the early hours of Friday 15 October, has been met with displeasure by clubs across Europe.
Real Madrid has been represented by three players in the South American 2022 World Cup Qualifiers between Brazil and Uruguay. For the home side, Eder Militao and winger Vinicius Junior lead their team to victory, while Uruguayan midfielder Federico Valverde was also in action.
Due to injury, both Marcelo and Casemiro were unable to join the Brazil team, while promising winger Rodrygo Goes was overlooked. Along with the Real Madrid vs Athletic Club matchup, the duel Granada vs Atletico Madrid has also been postponed due to the same cause. You can watch the 2021-22 La Liga season on ESPN+ in the US.
