Atletico Madrid's game against Athletic falls foul to Storm Filomena

Atletico Madrid's game against Athletic falls foul to Storm Filomena

Diego Simeone's side are facing fixture congestion later in the season as the games pile up

Atletico Madrid's game against Athletic Club in La Liga on Saturday has been called off because of Storm Filomena.

Athletic's flight to Madrid was unable to land on Friday as Barajas airport was forced to close and the match, scheduled to kick off at 16.15h, has been postponed.

A statement from La Liga said: "Given the exceptional situation caused by the storm across a large part of the Iberian peninsula, causing the closure of Madrid Barajas airport throughout the day, and the impossibility of having the pitch in optimal playing conditions, LaLiga, after contacting both clubs, have asked the Professional Competition Committee first thing this morning to postpone the match between Club Atletico Madrid - Athletic Club initially scheduled for Saturday (16:15 CET) at the Wanda Metropolitano.

"A new match date will be confirmed in the coming days during one of the available slots in the competition calendar."

The postponement leaves Atletico with a fixture backlog. 

Diego Simeone's side have only played 15 games this season, two fewer than most teams and three fewer than others before even taking this weekend's matches into consideration. 

Despite having games in hand, they remain top of the league with 38 points, two clear of Real Madrid and seven ahead of Barcelona, who have both played two more games. 

However, if Madrid and Barça's games go ahead on Saturday, Madrid could go top and Barça could cut the gap to four points. 

Atletico would have games in hand but they're facing potential fixture congestion later in the season, especially if they continue in the Champions League. 

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