Real Madrid's re-arranged Valencia game will add to fixture congestion
Zinedine Zidane's side lost their first game this season on Sunday and could now have 16 games in 54 days
Real Madrid's game in hand against Valencia, pending official confirmation, will be played on Feb. 22. The game, which will take place at Mestalla, is from the 16th round of fixtures in Spain's top flight and was originally postponed due to Madrid's participation in the Club World Cup.
With such a busy calendar -- including weekly Copa del Rey matches and the return of the Champions League -- there are few other dates when the match can be played. A week before, Madrid play the first leg of their Champions League tie against Napoli and there will be more European games on Feb. 22, too. Therefore, as was the case with Barça-Sporting last season, the game will have to be played at 18.30h so as not to clash with UEFA competitions.
Madrid's fixture schedule is especially frantic, given their only 'free' week will now have a match. In fact, if Los Blancos reach the Copa del Rey semifinal, they will have to play 16 games in just 54 days, which is a game every three days almost: Copa quarterfinal, Copa semifinal, Champions League last 16 and 10 league matches (Malaga, Real Sociedad, Celta, Osasuna, Espanyol, Valencia, Villarreal, Las Palmas, Eibar and Betis).
Madrid are one point clear of Sevilla at the top of the league and two points clear of Barça. Their game in hand, therefore, represents a chance to improve their lead in first place, although a lot may happen in the meantime.
