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Barcelona’s Gerard Pique says changing El Clasico date was wrong decision

Gerard Pique

The fixture was originally scheduled to take place on 26 October at the Camp Nou, but the volatility of the political situation in Catalonia forced a switch.

La Liga originally asked for the game to be moved to Real’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium, but the request was ruled out in favour of a postponement to 18 December.

“They will have more for the next game then…there is always some kind of complaint and the calendar is what it is,” Pique told Cadena Cope (via Diario AS).

“The game had to have been played the day it had to be played. If it had been the other way around, Barça would have complained (for having less rest). The players are used to playing games two or three days apart. At Barça-Madrid, you look at everything with a magnifying glass.

“Surely if we look at other times we have had less rest than Madrid. We did not propose to postpone the game. This started with (La Liga president, Javier) Tebas who proposed to play in Madrid and from there we played on December 18. We don't complain.

“What about the 26 October date? Nothing would have happened the day we had to play. At one specific point there were people who rebelled against the police, but nothing happened at the Camp Nou and I am convinced that nothing will happen.”

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Alasdair Mackenzie is a freelance journalist based in Rome, and a FourFourTwo contributor since 2015. When not pulling on the FFT shirt, he can be found at Reuters, The Times and the i. An Italophile since growing up on a diet of Football Italia on Channel 4, he now counts himself among thousands of fans sharing a passion for Ross County and Lazio.