Lionel Messi photo files (Photo Credit: Reuters)
Barcelona will start their season at Camp Nou against Villarreal, with or without Lionel Messi, at the end of September.
- Associated Press
- Last update: 1 September 2020, 08:25 AM
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With or without Lionel Messi, Barcelona he already knows he will start his home season against Villarreal at the end of September.
The Spanish league announced its schedule on Monday and the first round is scheduled for the second weekend in September. But Barcelona and the other teams who played later last season will see some of their matches postponed so that they have time to prepare.
All matches will continue to be played in empty stadiums. The league hoped that at least some fans would be admitted to the matches, but Spain struggled to contain a new wave of coronavirus cases.
Messi, who told Barcelona last week he wants to leave, missed the teams’ first day of training on Monday. He hadn’t already turned up on Sunday as the team underwent coronavirus testing at the club’s training center. He wants to leave a clause that allows him to leave for free at the end of the season, but Barcelona said the clause has expired. He wants the great Argentine to stay at least until his contract expires in June 2021.
There is no sign of how long the dispute will last, as neither the club nor the player seem willing to make concessions.
Barcelonas’ first match would be against promoted Elche at the Camp Nou stadium, with the second against Athletic Bilbao.
The first clasico against Real Madrid will be at the end of October, again at Camp Nou. The second will be on 11 April in Madrid.
Real Madrid, who returned to training on Monday, will debut in the second round at Real Sociedad. Only the Madrid first round match was postponed as it did not reach the Champions League quarter-finals.
Atletico Madrid have won the first two rounds and will start at home against Granada.
The end of the championship is scheduled for May 2021.
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