It is understandable that the inclement weather has ended a few football league matches in England in the past few weeks but it is not something you expect in Spain.
Storm Filomena caused record levels of snow to fall throughout the country with more than 20 inches falling in Madrid alone prompting the AEMET national weather agency to record the highest 24-hour snowfall seen since 1971 in the Spanish capital.
Embed from Getty ImagesLocal schools closed and trains were suspended as people were advised to stay indoors and avoid non-essential travel.
It also wreaked havoc in La Liga as Atletico Madrid’s encounter against Athletic Bilbao was postponed, meaning the league leaders have three matches in hand, while Elche vs Getafe and Huesca vs Real Betis were rearranged for January 11.
The Atletico match has yet to be rescheduled due to Athletic’s participation in the Copa del Rey and Diego Simeone’s side facing Sevilla on January 12.
Even the matches that were played including Real Madrid’s visit to Osasuna weren’t universally welcomed with Zinedine Zidane claiming: “For me, this was not a game of football. It should have been postponed.”
Embed from Getty ImagesAlthough the game was played in continuous snowfall, this was a second successive away game where the champions had dropped points as they failed to gain ground on rivals Atletico. With this in mind, the Frenchman’s comments could be seen as sour grapes but it was a remarkable effort from Osasuna’s ground staff to make the pitch playable.
Due to Madrid’s Barajas airport remaining closed, hence why Marcelino’s Athletic side couldn’t play at the Metropolitano, Real are staying in Pamplona and flew directly to Malaga in preparation for the Supercopa semi-final against Athletic on January 14.
Embed from Getty ImagesLa Liga officials will hope the weather does not cause further disruption to the fixture list and are helped by Real not scheduled to play again until January 20 when they visit Segunda B side Alcoyano.
Notable results
Granada 0-4 Barcelona – Messi and Griezmann both score twice as Barca notch fourth straight away win.
Sevilla 3-2 Real Sociedad – Youssef En-Nesyri scores first professional hat-trick as hosts further enhance their ambitions to challenge for Europe
Celta Vigo 0-4 Villarreal – Visitors’ goals all come within first half-hour as Moreno, Gomez, Parejo and Nino seal first four-goal victory since 2005.
Real Valladolid 0-1 Valencia – Late Soler goal gives Gracia’s side just their second away win in last 20 away league matches and lifts them to 13th.
Cadiz 3-1 Alaves – Hosts claim first win in six matches as second-half Lozano and Negredo goals are enough to see off 10-man visitors.