Real Madrid dealt early kick-off in searing summer heat

Never have the kick-off times for the opening games of LaLiga caused so much uproar. The culprit, the stifling summer heat in Spain. The further south you go, the hotter it gets in July and August and Almería, on the southern coast with scorching currents blowing over the Mediterranean from north Africa, it gets particularly hot and sweaty.

Usually, LaLiga is fully aware of the risks of holding large events outdoors during the searing summer months. It poses health risks for both the players and the fans. Three years ago, the summer fixtures list included details of weather conditions alongside all of the programmed games such as the forecast temperatures as well as the historical highs in all 20 cities where the matches were taking place. LaLiga knows full well when and where it gets hot in Spain. However this year, they seem to have not taken the hot weather into account.

Real Madrid cannot understand why their Week 2 fixture in Almería on 19 August has been designated a 7:30 p.m. kick-off. To make a recent comparison, last year, temperatures on that day reached 35º C during the Mediterranean Games, while the historical record in Almería is 42º C -set on 13 August last year (beating the previous records: 41.6º C in July 2019 and 41.1º C in 2015).

Unless it turns out to be an extremely unusual year, early evening temperatures will be around the same in Almería in mid-August. Real Madrid are astonished that they have been handed an early kick-off when temperatures have reached their peak. And they are not the only club who is up in arms about the calendar - Rayo Vallecano find themselves in the same situation. They travel to Almería on the opening day, 11 August with kick-off set for the same time: 7:30 p.m. It was 34º C on that day at that time last year). Club sources have also confessed to this newspaper that they feel totally confused with the situation.

Will the kick-off times be set back?

There is a strong possibility that LaLiga will be forced to modify the kick-off times for both of the first two fixtures in Almería. During the 2021/22 season, Osasuna’s game against Espanyol on 14 August was scheduled to kick off at 5:00 p.m. The temperature was originally forecast to be 26º C but closer to the time, it was predicted to be closer to 38º C... two days before the game, LaLiga announced that the game would kick off five hours later than scheduled - at 22:00 hours. In the 2018/19 season, Sevilla’s Week 2 clash with Villarreal on 26 August was programmed for 8:15 p.m. But when the forecast predicted sweltering heat, in excess of 30º C, kick-off was delayed until 10:15 p.m.

Those are two examples that Madrid and Rayo will put forward in their arguments to LaLiga. Neither club can understand why they have been handed early evening slots in one of the hottest regions of the country during the summer months.