According to El Sport this year’s clasico could be brought forward and played on Friday 21st December - see link here 

However, before you start cancelling flights and rebooking hotels, have a think about the story. The article states that players and clubs would like to gain the extra days holiday and that TV companies would have to agree to the change of date. Well, there we have the first indicator that there is nothing to the story. The TV companies are highly unlikely to agree to such a change, the Friday before christmas is full of office parties and the like, they would almost certainly lose viewers if the date was switched.

Secondly, there are no quotes from anyone to confirm this speculation, so the players would like another day with their families, wouldn’t we all? Next, the story has not been run by anybody else, always a sign of a baseless story. And finally, we are in an international break when the papers, like myself, have very little to write about concerning Barça.

So, there you have it. Lesson one in how to detect bulls**t. I actually hope I’m wrong as I could take that extra day with my family if the story were true. Shame on El Sport for printing such conjecture and worrying fans who have already made travel plans for a Saturday match.

My advice, if you are planning to come to Barcelona for the match, is to wait a while until there are some announcements from the TV companies, or better still book a longer weekend trip and spend the extra time enjoying the city.