2023-24 La Liga Calendar: Key Dates
Season Kicks Off in Just Over a Month
Barcelona’s Title Defense Starts at Getafe
The Spanish La Liga kicks off in mid-August after a two-month break. Last season, Barcelona won their first title in four years as they conceded just 20 goals in 38 games. They’ll kick off their title defense at Getafe, while Real Madrid’s first match is at Athletic Bilbao. There are also three new teams in La Liga in 2023-24 who earned promotion from the Segunda Division. Let’s review the major dates from the 2023-24 La Liga calendar and closely examine the Spanish top flight.
Key Dates
The first Matchday of the 2023-24 La Liga calendar starts on August 12th. Some standout matches from the first day include Getafe vs. Barcelona, Villarreal vs. Real Betis, Real Sociedad vs. Girona and Athletic Club vs. Real Madrid. The season will run until May 26th, 2024, and there will be 38 Matchdays as each team plays a double round-robin.
The most highly-anticipated matches of the season are El Clasicos between Barcelona and Real Madrid. This season, they’ll be played during the weekend of October 28th and April 20th. The Seville Derbies between Real Betis and Sevilla are during the weekend of November 11th and April 27th. The Basque Derby, which is contested by Real Sociedad and Athletic Club, are tentatively scheduled for October 1st and January 14th.
There will also be four separate international breaks throughout the season to allow players time to join their national teams. During these periods, there will be no La Liga matches. The first break runs from September 4th to September 12th. There will be another one in October, from the 9th to the 17th. November’s international break goes from the 13th to the 21st. In March, there will be no games on the La Liga schedule from the 18th to the 26th.
There will also be a Winter break for each La Liga team. This will run from December 20th until the start of 2024. Games may also be rescheduled due to European competitions and the Copa del Rey. This is more of a concern for teams in the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League.
Teams in UEFA Competitions
Note that La Liga schedules are subject to change a fair bit. European matches will take priority, as UEFA runs a tight schedule for their competitions. This season, eight Spanish teams will compete in UEFA competitions. Five La Liga teams will participate in the UEFA Champions League in the 2023-24 season.
The Champions League is the most prominent UEFA competition for soccer betting, and each of the top four La Liga teams from 2022-23 qualified for competition. They are FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad. Plus, Sevilla won the Europa League, which confers an automatic bid to the Champions League group stage.
Two Spanish sides will compete in the 2023-24 Europa League as well. A fifth-place Villarreal finish and sixth-place Real Betis campaign were enough to earn spots in the second-tier European competition. Osasuna, who came in seventh place in 2022-23, earned a spot in the UEFA Europa Conference League.
Most of Villarreal, Real Betis and Osasuna’s matches in these competitions will be played on Thursdays. So, expect their La Liga fixtures around these matches to be pushed to Sundays. Also, when Champions League teams play European matches on Tuesdays, expect their league games to be played on the previous Friday or Saturday.
New Teams
Three teams earned promotion to La Liga at the conclusion of the 2022-23 season. With a first-place finish in La Liga 2, Granada spent just one season away from La Liga following a 2022 relegation. Las Palmas narrowly finished in second place and managed to clinch the second automatic promotion spot.
The third team to earn promotion was Alaves, who also spent just one season away from La Liga. They defeated Eibar and Levante in the promotion playoff to become the final team to advance to La Liga.
While the 2023-24 La Liga calendar begins with Las Palmas at home vs. Mallorca, the other newly-promoted sides are on the road. Granada face a difficult test at Atletico Madrid and Alaves head to Cadiz.
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