La Liga has postponed the opening matches of Barcelona and Real Madrid for the upcoming season due to the number of players from both clubs involved in the FIFA World Cup semi-finals.

France face Spain on Tuesday, while England take on Argentina on Wednesday.

Key Barcelona players in the semis include Spain's Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo, as well as England's Anthony Gordon.

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe and Aurelien Tchouameni feature for France, while Jude Bellingham is pivotal for England.

The Spanish top-flight was set to begin on August 15-16. However, Barcelona will now start on August 23 against Elche, with their original opener against Athletic Bilbao moved to August 27.

Real Madrid's opening game against Real Sociedad has been shifted to August 26, meaning Jose Mourinho's first league match in charge will be away at Espanyol on August 22.

Atletico Madrid's Argentine duo Julian Alvarez and Nahuel Molina will start as scheduled on August 19 against Malaga.

Source: www.aljazeera.com