Cheers for following this evening. Stay with AS English for the reaction and analysis following the fixture list confirmation.

Matchday 1

2021-22 LaLiga full schedule

The schedule for the 2nd division will follow later this evening too

...and that's it from the Spanish FA, short and sweet this time with the full fixture list set to be made public via the RFEF website imminently

Cadiz-Levante / Osasuna-Espanyol / Villarreal-Granada and Elche-Athletic completes match-day 1

Valencia welcome Getafe and Jose Bordalas will face his former side in match-day 1

Sevilla face Rayo and Betis travel to Mallorca in match-day 1

LaLiga holders At. Madrid travel to Galicia and face Celta in the opening fixture

Barcelona start at home to Real Sociedad

The Clasicos will go ahead on 24 Oct and Match 20th (2022)

Real Madrid start away to Alaves

We have the fixture list !!!!!

With almost three weeks of Euro 2020 under the belt with fans present, it's so odd to see footage of last season with all LaLiga games (bar the last two match-days) staged behind closed doors due to the pandemic. Amazing how quickly we become conditioned!

A video with Muse-esque rock musical bed now accompanies a video reminding us of the 20 sides that will play in LaLiga next season... Today is actually the last official day of the 2020-21 season !

A bit like the Spanish Christmas lottery but without that annoying 'mil euros' being repeated incessantly !

This is the time when one needs a degree in quantum physics as the kids draw a series of numbers from the glass bowls. The specific numbers will then fire up the computer and lo and behold we'll have match-day one fixtures. The numbers the kids draw... all of them correspond with a fixture list patters... 59881 is the fixture list code that will unlock the schedule.....

The kids being asked what team they support and who their favorite player is.... See earlier point about Spanish FA and their tendency to favor the old preamble ahead of their draw events!

Today's helpers to select the balls from the fine looking glass bowls are a series of children decked out in the Spanish colours with 'La Roja' set to face Switzerland in Euro 2020 on Friday.

Our FA representative runs us through the draw procedure and reminds us that this will not be a symmetric draw as was traditionally the case in Spain...

The LaLiga calendar now takes inspiration from the Premier League with a similar scheduling procedure.

Just waiting for the nod from the Spanish FA .... and we're live at the Luis Aragones hall

Copa del Rey final date confirmed. The final will be played in Seville's Estadio de la Cartuja (the venue for Spain's Euro 2020 group stage games) and will go ahead on 23 April (2022)

There will be some LaLiga games on New Year's Eve ! Three games will go ahead on 31 December (2021) but will be games will be staged where local geography playing a key role with a move not top have teams involved in excessive travel with the famous grapes to be eaten come midnight.

Some Real Betis fans hoping for a derby game to open the campaign ! Arguably the most passionate of all derby games in LaLiga ... the newly dubbed 'El Gran Derbi'

Playing away

Real Madrid, Burgos and Tenerife have requested that their opening fixture be away from home to facilitate more time for renovation work to be completed on the respective grounds. Another factor to be considered this evening.

We'll do all we can here though to make sure that the waffle is covered with comment and analisis ahead of the draw.

As is the case with the draw procedure from the Spanish FA, be prepared for a healthy portion of preamble. Over the years, UEFA and FIFA have learned that a dynamic and swift draw procedure s generally the approach that sits well with fans. This modus operandi has yet to be employed by our friends at Las Rozas with a fair degree of waffle accompanying each draw procedure.

As soon as the fixture list for the top flight has been confirmed, the RFEF/LaLiga computer will be tweaked to ensure that key games in the second tier take place on international weekends and the 2nd division schedule will follow.

New kids on the block

Espanyol and Mallorca bounced swiftly back to the top flight and they were joined by Rayo Vallecano who, despite finishing sixth, overcame Leganes and Girona in the play-off to secure the final promotion place.

The four new sides in 2a are: Burgos, Ibiza, Real Sociedad 'B' and Amorebieta

2021-22...fans return?

Despite Spanish health minister Carolina Darias confirming last week that fans will be allowed to return to stadiums for the new season, the recent surge of the Delta variant has local health boards concerned and the next weeks will be key in determining on what % of supporters will be able to watch that start of the new canmpagn.

Second division start-end dates

The 2a division also commences over the weekend of 15 August but won't conclude until 19 of June (2022) when the final play-off game takes place to determine the final promoted side.

First division start-end dates

The 2021/22 LaLiga Santander campaign gets underway on the weekend of 15 August and will conclude on 22 May (2022) with 380 games set to take place over the season to determine the champion.

We'll soon know the dates for El Clasico, Madrid derby, Sevile derby and the return of the Catalan derby following Espanyol securing a swift return to the top flight after just one season in 2a.

It's actually just match-day 1 that is drawn live and once that has been conducted the 'magic' LaLiga/RFEF computer whirs into action and produces the full schedule for the forthcoming season.

Proceedings at the RFEF (Spanish FA) HQ are set to commence at 17:30 CEST and based on previous experience we should have the full fixture list after approximately 45'-60'.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage ahead of the draw for the 2021-22 LaLiga Santander and Smartbank seasons.