10月22日，据24直播网报道，西班牙国家队周三在首都马德里迎来主场的挑战，无需远征。与此同时，巴塞罗那足球俱乐部周二远赴法国巴黎，客场挑战巴黎圣日耳曼队，比赛结束后，球队还要面临深夜乘机的辛劳。
周日晚间21时，一场备受瞩目的国家德比赛事即将拉开帷幕，该时间点为欧冠赛事结束后所能安排的最晚开球时刻。穆里尼奥对此选择保持沉默，尽管他并未回避对其他问题的批评，但他却有意回避了这样一个事实：早在8月30日，欧足联就已根据各国电视转播的需求，统一确定了欧冠赛程。
对于首场联赛国家德比前的休赛期，这一期待早已深入人心。在过去十年中，西甲传统上把每年的10月最后一周安排给了欧冠比赛的中场休息。然而，若要论及历史上哪支球队能够更加理直气壮地感到不满，那么非巴塞罗那莫属。
Since the 2018-19 season, including this week's encounter, Sunday marks the eighth edition of the October El Clásico following the UEFA Champions League group stage. When considering the time between the Champions League and the league matches, Real Madrid has enjoyed a total of 26 days of rest, while Barcelona has had just 23. This figure does not yet account for the 2019-20 El Clásico, which was postponed due to the political unrest in Catalonia stemming from the "process of independence," raising security concerns. Originally, the Catalan team was scheduled to play against Slavia Prague at 21:00 on a Wednesday evening, followed by a home match against Real Madrid at 13:00 on Saturday afternoon at the Nou Camp. Meanwhile, Real Madrid was set to face Galatasaray in Istanbul at 21:00 on a Tuesday evening.
尽管这场原定于12月18日举行的，因无欧冠赛事压力而被排除在总体统计之外的国家德比被纳入考量，但在周三欧冠赛事结束后的周六，巴塞罗那（两次）与皇家马德里的对决次数依然相对较少。
与此同时，本次国家德比的比赛日期已无法推迟。尽管周一还将进行一场联赛赛事（塞维利亚与奥萨苏纳对决），但同一时间（21:00）伦敦将举行金球奖盛典。