The dates for when FC Barcelona and Real Madrid will meet in El Clasico next season have been revealed after the La Liga draw was made in Spain early Wednesday afternoon.
The draw happened at around midday local time, and determined that Barca will start the defense of their Spanish top flight crown away at Getafe on August 13.
As explained in a report by SPORT on Tuesday, this is the date by which new signing Ilkay Gundogan must have his contract registered, or the outgoing Manchester City captain can walk for free.
Nobody wants such a potential issue to unfold, however, and Gundogan looking forward to playing his first instalment of El Clasico instead.
As revealed by the draw, the first of the two fixtures will be played on October 29 when Barca host their arch rivals at the Montjuic Stadium used next term while the Camp Nou is being renovated.
Then, on April 21, Xavi Hernandez’s men head to the Bernabeu to take on Los Blancos.
The league guarantees the football world at least two matches of the most popular derby on the planet.
In 2022/2023, Madrid memorably steamrolled Barca 3-1 at home in October yet this proved to be a turning point in the Catalans’ campaign.
After that, they went on a lengthy unbeaten run ahead of a 2-1 win over Madrid at Camp Nou in March, where a stoppage time goal from Franck Kessie pretty much wrapped up the title.
In a similar fashion, the April 2024 meeting could have a huge say on whether Barca retain the championship or it heads to the mainland capital once more.
Last season, there were five Clasicos in total as Barca and Madrid met not just twice in the league but also another pair of times in the Copa del Rey semi-finals and once in the Spanish Super Cup final.
Barca came out 3-1 on top in the Super Cup Final, but then lost a one-sided Copa del Rey semi-final second leg 4-0.
This knocked them out 4-1 on aggregate, as Madrid then went on to beat Osasuna in the final.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomsanderson/2023/06/22/fc-barcelona-versus-real-madrid-el-clasico-dates-in-20232024-revealed/