This archive report was first published on 8 June 2020.
La Liga's title race is set to take a dramatic turn as Barcelona and Real Madrid face the challenge of playing in unfamiliar home stadiums. The two teams, separated by just two points, will have to adapt to new surroundings as they battle for the championship.
Real Madrid will play their home games at the 6,000-seater Alfredo di Stefano Stadium, while Barcelona will have to navigate the empty Camp Nou, which will feel even emptier than usual due to the absence of fans.
For Barcelona, this is not the first time they have played without fans. In 2017, they played against Las Palmas in an empty Camp Nou due to political unrest. However, this time, they will have to navigate five home games without the support of their fans.
Real Madrid, on the other hand, will have to adjust to a new pitch and lighting system at the Alfredo di Stefano Stadium. The club's groundsman, Paul Burgess, has been moved to work on the surface, and the team will have to improve the lighting for broadcasting and add advertising boards.
For Zinedine Zidane, the setting is familiar, as he led Madrid's reserve side, Castilla, for 28 games at the Alfredo di Stefano Stadium before taking charge of the first team. He even made his last appearance there in a Real Madrid shirt, to open the stadium in 2006.
However, six home games against Eibar, Valencia, Mallorca, Getafe, Alaves, and Villarreal offer no guarantees, and unlike Barcelona's opponents, those teams will not even feel an historic anxiety. For them, the Alfredo di Stefano Stadium might feel more like a neutral venue.
“Personally, I would prefer to play at the Bernabeu,” said Sergio Ramos. If home advantage is less certain, Barcelona could suffer most. They have collected the most home points so far in the division and nine more than Real Madrid.
But if they find away points are easier to collect, Barcelona have more room for improvement than Real. The unknowns make an erratic title race even more unpredictable.
