Date change for season's first El Clasico

Madrid - La Liga president Javier Tebas confirmed on Monday that the first El Clasico of the season between Real Madrid and Barcelona will be played on Saturday, December 23 at 14:00 (SA time).

The clash was expected to take place on December 20 as part of a full midweek round of fixtures before Spain's winter break.

However, given Real could feature in the Club World Cup final in Japan on December 17, the European champions have been given extra recovery time.

"It will be played on Saturday 23rd at 1300 (local time). That is what we have told the television companies," Tebas told Onda Cero radio.

"That week, given it is Christmas time we will have a very special round of fixtures with games on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday."

Due to La Liga's ambition of rivalling the Premier League's interest around the world and getting television rights deals to match, Tebas has engineered radical changes to kick-off times in Spain with Asian audiences in mind.

Real's 1-1 draw with Levante on Saturday lunchtime went head-to-head with Manchester City's blockbuster Premier League clash against Liverpool.