LOCAL football enthusiasts out to get their solid fixture this weekend are in for a treat as the biggest match in the world of club football will be delivered right to their homes on free TV.
Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, two of the biggest and popular teams in football, are to meet for the first time in the 2017-2018 La Liga season which will be shown live on Saturday at 7:50 p.m. over ABS-CBN S+A.
It is a continuation of the channel’s commitment to bring the best action in European club football which started early this month.
S+A said that in doing such it hopes that interest in the sport among Filipinos is stoked, prompting them to focus attention on football as well and further propel its development in the country.
To help it in its latest programming thrust, ABS-CBN Integrated Sports partnered with Hong Kong-based holdings company Triple CH last month, allowing it to telecast on free television top-quality European club football action.
Since beginning airing games on Dec. 1, Filipino football fans have been able to watch on S+A world-class football in the English Premier League, Spain’s top-flight football league La Liga, and the UEFA Champions League.
RONALDO AND MESSI
Expected to take center stage anew as Madrid and Barcelona collide at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium are top footballers Cristiano Ronaldo of the home team and Lionel Messi of the visitors.
The two players have been highly considered as two of this generation’s finest football players, having won five Balon d’Or trophies as well as holding various scoring records in the teams and leagues they play in.
Barcelona took the last Clasico in April this year with Mr. Messi scoring a brace to help his team to a 3-2 victory.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, is coming off a successful title-retention bid in the 2017 Club World Cup, beating Brazilian side Gremio, 1-0, in the process becoming the first team in the history of the Club World Cup to repeat as champion.
Currently Barcelona is on top of the La Liga standings with 13 wins and three draws for 42 points while Madrid is at fourth with nine wins, four draws and two losses for 31 points.
Sandwiched between the two are second-running Atletico Madrid (10-6-0) at 36 points and Valencia (10-4-2) at 34 points. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
