Real Madrid's league opener could be moved to late August

The weekend of August 14 to 16 will mark the start of the competition, although the opening matchday cannot be carried out in full on those dates. The Real Madrid are guaranteed to have at least one player in the World Cup semifinals after France and Morocco reached the quarterfinals.

In that tie, several players linked to the white club are involved: Brahim Díaz with Morocco, and Kylian Mbappé, Aurélien Tchouaméni and Ibrahima Konaté with France. Whatever the outcome of the match between the two national teams, Mourinho's side will have representation in the next round of the tournament.

Semifinals still to be decided

The situation directly affects Real Sociedad - Real Madrid, the match corresponding to LaLiga's opening round. The expectation is that the fixture will be moved to late August, between matchday two and matchday three, a formula that Javier Tebas had already pointed out when explaining the league's plan.

LaLiga's president linked that decision to the collective bargaining agreement signed with the AFE: “What is established in the AFE collective bargaining agreement will be complied with for all players. There will be three weeks of rest for the players depending on the last World Cup match they play, and three weeks of preparation”.

Tebas also outlined how the competition's first date could be split: “We have done a study and it is very easy for us to divide the first matchday into six matches around August 14 and another three or four on a midweek Wednesday in August. That postponed first matchday could be played between matchday two and matchday three of the competition”.

Real Madrid's case would not be the only one under review. Among the fixtures with options to change dates are Barcelona - Athletic Club, Atlético de Madrid - Málaga and Celta - Osasuna, although the final decision will depend on the players who end up reaching the World Cup semifinals with their respective teams.

LaLiga will wait for the tournament bracket to be defined before publishing the official schedules for the opening round. For its part, the AFE had already argued for delaying the start of the competition by one week so that all teams could play the opening fixture at the same time and avoid a split opening matchday.