Who benefits more from the change of date for El Clasico: Barcelona or Real Madrid? El Clasico Both physical and mental consequences

The Competition Committee of the Spanish Football Federation have announced that El Clasico will be moved from October 26 to December 18.

The match had originally been postponed due to the ongoing political and social crisis in Catalonia following the lengthy jail sentences handed to Catalan political leaders.

As a result of security fears of playing the game at the Camp Nou, Barcelona's home fixture with Real Madrid in LaLiga Santander has been rescheduled to Wednesday December 18.

We've taken a look at the repercussions of this change of date and how it affects not just Barcelona and Real Madrid, but four other Spanish teams.

Calendar shake-up

Due to the fact that both Barcelona and Real Madrid will have a free weekend on October 26 and 27, this could prove to be an advantage over the LaLiga Santander teams that they face the following week.

Barcelona will have plenty of time to prepare to host Real Valladolid on Tuesday October 29 before a trip to Levante on Saturday November 2.

It's the same for Real Madrid, who have more time to rest ahead of Leganes on Wednesday 30 October and then Real Betis on Saturday November 2.

"The reality is that this decision really affects four teams: Leganes, Valladolid, Levante and Betis, because our opponents, with the strength that they have, are going to play one match less in a week with three matches," Betis boss Rubi said.

There's also the benefit of not having to worry about a Clasico during Champions League fixtures in the week leading up to October 26.

The scenario is different in December. Barcelona will come into the Clasico on December 18 having played away at Inter in the Champions League on December 10 and away at Real Sociedad in LaLiga Santander on December 15.

Real Madrid are in Belgium to play Club Brugge on December 11 before hosting Athletic Club on December 15 ahead of the Clasico.

Both teams will then play again in LaLiga Santander the weekend after before the two week winter break kicks in. After that, Barcelona have the Catalan derby against Espanyol and Real Madrid are away at Getafe.

Then the two sides are due to play in the revamped Supercopa De Espana, which runs between January 8 and 12 and is likely to be played in Saudi Arabia.

Injuries

If the Clasico was played as planned on October 26, Real Madrid would've almost certainly been without the injured Luka Modric, Gareth Bale and Lucas Vazquez, who will all miss the midweek trip to play Galatasaray in Turkey.

Marco Asensio is expected to be out until the new year so this change of date doesn't help him.

Therefore, with almost every single member of Barcelona's squad fit for October 26, this benefits Real Madrid massively. Only Sergi Roberto is an injury doubt at the moment.

However, Ousmane Dembele would've missed an October 26 Clasico with suspension and will be allowed to play the one in December.

Barcelona like a rescheduled Clasico

Of the four Clasicos that have been rescheduled for one reason or another, Real Madrid have won just one.

The first time a Clasico was moved came during the 1928/29 season when Barcelona were the victors as visitors of the rescheduled encounter.

It wasn't until the 1967/68 campaign before the next Clasico changed date.

It was moved due to the death of Barcelona player Julio Cesar Benitez, with the rescheduled game ending in a 1-1 draw thanks to goals from Paco Gento and Jose Antonio Zaldua.

The third Clasico to change dates came during the 1971/72 season when, after the fixture was moved because of Spain's Semana Santa celebrations, Barcelona beat Real Madrid 1-0.

The last time a Clasico was rescheduled came during the 1989/90 campaign when Los Blancos won 3-2 at home after the original fixture was called off for Semana Santa again.

Mental factor

The change of date doesn't just affect the team's physical preparations, but their mental state too.

"The postponement is a situation that the dressing room don't directly control, therefore once again, the way which each [player] deals with this setback won't be the same," sports psychologist Lorena Cos told MARCA.

"What we can't deny is that all that's been spoken about in the last few weeks is the change in date [for El Clasico] rather than the next match.

"Therefore it's very important for athletes to try to separate themselves from these questions and focus on their daily job to avoid lacks of concentration that comes from El Clasico.

"You can interpret this decision and change of date negatively, although what would really affect your physical and mental state would be the accumulation of various demanding matches, where athletes don't have enough time to rest and recovery in the best way."