La Liga rejected Real Madrid request to move fixture

Real Madrid will be itching to get revenge on Arsenal after their defeat on Tuesday, but before that, they take on Alaves this weekend in their latest La Liga fixture. The match at Mendizorroza takes place at 3.15pm CEST on Sunday, but had Los Blancos got their way, it would have been brought forward.

There is an eight-day gap between the two legs of Real Madrid’s Champions League quarter-final tie against Arsenal, and because of this, La Liga designated Sunday as the day for their match against Alaves. But this was not what club bosses wanted, which is why they asked Alaves if they were comfortable with the match being moved to the Saturday (12/04), as per Cadena SER (via Diario AS).

Alaves told Real Madrid that they were happy for the fixture to be brought forward, which promoted the defending champions to file a request with La Liga. However, it was requested, with the league justifying that stance by stating that Los Blancos were too late on this matter.

And according to the report, La Liga’s decision has left Real Madrid feeling uncomfortable. They see it far from ideal that they will have less time to prepare for their crucial second leg against Arsenal, during which they will need to overturn a three-goal deficit.

It should be noted that Arsenal are in action on Saturday as they host Brentford in their latest Premier League fixture, and this is likely to fuel further anger and frustration within Real Madrid, who will have 24 hours less rest than their Champions League opponents. But it is a situation that Carlo Ancelotti and his side must deal with, and they cannot afford to take the match against Alaves lightly as anything less than a victory could see them lose more ground in the La Liga title race.