Postponed Clasico helps Real Madrid pursue Supercopa de Espana

The month of December has been generous to Real Madrid and after tomorrow’s game against Athletic Bilbao, the team will be heading into the holiday break with a good month under their belt.

When they return in the new year, Zinedine Zidane’s team will begin their pursuit of the Supercopa de España against Valencia in the semi-final of the competition and the postponed Clasico will help them fight for the title.

In December, Real had a 2-0 win over Espanyol, followed by an enthralling 1-1 draw with Valencia and a team-driven performance against FC Barcelona in the first Clasico of the 2019/20 season.

However, the match between the two Spanish giants was not supposed to be scheduled this late at the beginning of the season. The game was originally set to be played at the Camp Nou on October 26 but political protests in Catalonia postponed the match.

At first, it was proposed that the teams invert the tie, meaning the game would be played in Madrid first rather than Barcelona but moving the date to December 18 was the best possible option.

This is one of the turning points in the season as the match against the Blaugrana is going to carry more significance moving forward.

Looking at the schedule before the switch, Real were coming off a 1-0 defeat against Mallorca and a slim 1-0 win over Galatasaray.

As a whole, the club wasn’t in their most convincing form so avoiding such a heavy clash early in the season was helpful in terms of momentum. It wouldn’t have been surprising if Barca won by a convincing margin.

Overtime, the club has been able to find their feet and had some excellent performances both in the UEFA Champions League and LaLiga with everything building up to the rescheduled rivalry clash.

After being handed a lifeline, Zidane’s team was able to look at their schedule and maintain a composed side working to keep themselves level before the heavy clash.

In the days leading up to it, both teams sat at the top of the table tied for points and the players knew what was at stake. Real found the drive to stay on top.

While fighting for that point in the Camp Nou, Real showed signs of determination, creativity, and attack which will carry over into their next important clash as the look for the title.

The team isn’t showing any signs of slowing down and are on a performance-high in the middle of the season from both an individual and team perspective. Continuing at this level after the break is an achievable goal.

If the momentum carries, pushing past Valencia in the semi-finals and making it to the final with the possibly winning a trophy in the middle of the season seems do-able. If successful, the win will have a huge impact on the rest of the year.

Without the change in the schedule, Real Madrid could have been in a very different situation.

The semi final against Valencia will take place on January 8 at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.