La Liga is back this weekend, but not quite as you know it.

Six games are being played across the opening matchday — but the Spanish top flight’s two biggest clubs, Barcelona and Real Madrid, will not be in action.

Allow us to explain…

Who is playing in the opening La Liga weekend and who is not?

The opening game is Deportivo Alaves v Getafe today (Saturday) at 7.30pm local time (6.30pm UK, 1.30pm ET), with Sevilla hosting Rayo Vallecano later that evening.

Racing Santander will make their La Liga return on Sunday when Villarreal travel to their El Sardinero home ground, while Espanyol play Levante that day. Another historic club back in the division, Deportivo La Coruna,  welcome Elche on Monday, before Atletico Madrid face second-division play-off winners Malaga on Wednesday.

Racing Santander made an emotional return to La Liga (Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)

Four matches from the opening gameweek have been pushed back to late August due to an agreement between La Liga and Spain’s players’ union, the AFE, which includes a mandatory break for all players whose international teams reached the World Cup semi-finals.

Spain reaching and winning the final against Argentina on July 19 means players such as Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal and Real Madrid’s Marc Cucurella will not have games until at least the second weekend of the season.

When do Barcelona and Real Madrid actually start their seasons?

La Liga champions Barcelona begin the defence of their crown at Elche on Sunday, August 23, allowing the eight Barca players in Spain’s World Cup-winning squad more time to recover.

Jose Mourinho’s first game of his second spell as Madrid manager will be at Espanyol on Saturday, August 22.

What were supposed to be the Clasico duo’s first matches are now being played towards the end of the month — with Barca hosting Bilbao’s Athletic Club at the Camp Nou on Thursday, August 27, and Madrid taking on Real Sociedad at the Bernabeu on Wednesday, August 26.

Barcelona contributed eight players to Spain’s World Cup-winning squad (Eric Verhoeven/Soccrates/Getty Images)

Many top players involved in the World Cup have only returned to training in recent days — Yamal, Pedri, Dani Olmo and Pau Cubarsi had their first training session back at Barca on Wednesday.

The situation is similar in the capital. Cucurella was not involved in Madrid’s 1-0 friendly win against Deportivo La Coruna on Wednesday night, and nor were World Cup semi-finalists with England and France Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe and Aurelien Tchouameni, whose national teams were involved in the third-place play-off the day before the final.

When was this agreed and by who?

La Liga were firm in their stance that they wanted the 2025-26 season to start on August 15 — even though other top leagues around Europe are starting later this season. The Premier League kicks off on the following weekend of August 21, while Germany’s Bundesliga starts on August 28.

Spain’s players union AFE objected to the mid-August start, as players whose countries went deep into the World Cup would be denied the mandated time for both rest and pre-season within Spanish football’s government-sanctioned collective bargaining agreement.

Following months of debate, a proposal to ‘split’ the opening gameweek was unanimously agreed by La Liga’s club representatives on June 9, while the season calendar was approved at the Spanish football federation’s annual assembly on June 30 — although Madrid did not send representatives to either of these meetings.

The solution gave clubs whose players had reached the semi-finals of the World Cup the option to push their opening games back 10 days.

The staggered start to the campaign means that there will be La Liga fixtures played on all but one day between August 15 and 31.

Spreading the games so widely also helps with scheduling, as high temperatures in many Spanish cities during August mean evening kick-offs are necessary for health and safety reasons.

What about Atletico Madrid’s situation?

Atletico Madrid had more players than any other club taking part in the World Cup final, four with Spain (Alex Baena, summer signing Alejandro Grimaldo, Marcos Llorente and Marc Pubill) and five with Argentina (Julian Alvarez, Giuliano Simeone, goalkeeper Juan Musso, Nahuel Molina and Thiago Almada — although the latter two have since joined other clubs).

Julian Alvarez returned to Atletico Madrid training this week (Dennis Agyeman/Europa Press via Getty Images)

La Liga would have allowed Atletico’s opening game against Malaga to also have been pushed back to late August, but Canadian artist The Weeknd is set to play concerts at their Metropolitano stadium on the 28th, 29th and 30th of the month.

So Diego Simeone’s team will host Malaga on Wednesday. It remains to be seen if World Cup winners including Llorente and Baena will feature given they only returned to training seven days before their club season begins.

Argentina star Alvarez’s situation is also unclear, as a transfer saga with Barcelona rumbles on, although Atletico’s hierarchy continue to insist he is not for sale.

What about the rest of the clubs?

Real Betis midfielder Giovani Lo Celso was part of the Argentina squad that reached the World Cup final, so Betis’ game at Valencia has also been moved back to Tuesday, August 25.

Although Celta Vigo also had striker Borja Iglesias with Spain, the Galician club were set to kick off at home to Osasuna on the opening weekend.

But a disease affecting the turf at Vigo’s Estadio Balaidos has made the pitch unplayable for this weekend, so on Thursday La Liga announced that game was being pushed back to Thursday, August 27.

Earlier in the summer, when discussing Wrexham’s recruitment plans for a second season in the Championship, co-owner Ryan Reynolds used the analogy of a home-improvement show.

“This episode is about making the kitchen work better, rather than doing a whole-house renovation,” said the Deadpool movie series star.

Well, with just a couple of days to go until their second-tier season opener away to fellow Welsh side Cardiff City, it’s perhaps fair to say the new sink and dishwasher are plumbed in and the kitchen island installed, but the high-end cooker and set of chef’s knives remain on delivery.

Wrexham are in decent shape.

The “whole-house renovation” of year one in the Championship, following three straight promotions — Wrexham signed 13 players at a combined cost of £33million in the summer before another £5m went on three more additions during the winter window — led to a seventh-place finish, just one win shy of the play-offs.

Danny Imray, Ben Whiteman and Anthony Patterson have since joined, further strengthening a squad that, unlike a year ago, when five additions were made after the campaign had begun, including three on deadline day, has had the benefit of a pre-season together.

Nevertheless, as last weekend’s Carabao Cup first round exit away to fellow Championship side Middlesbrough showed, Wrexham need more.

A frontline striker in the mould of that night’s matchwinner Will Lankshear, signed from Tottenham of the Premier League for an initial £10million that could double through add-ons, certainly wouldn’t go amiss. Nor would increased options out wide and a central defender, The Athletic revealing earlier this week that a couple of bids have been rejected for Norway international centre-back Henrik Falchener, 23, from that country’s Viking Stavanger.

Phil Parkinson’s problem is he’s not the only Championship manager looking to make improvements. Nor are the clubs he’s trying to prise targets out of overly keen on losing some of their top talents.

Danny Imray spent last season on loan at West Brom from Crystal Palace (Simon Galloway/Getty Images)

“People always say, ‘Why does it get left so long?’” says Parkinson, whose talent search a year ago culminated in three key signings on the final day of the summer window in Issa Kabore (on loan), Dominic Hyam and Ben Sheaf.

“But there are so many circumstances that can dictate that. We are working as hard as ever behind the scenes. I don’t think we’ve ever been a club who have been shy of making signings when the right players become available.”

Since promotion back to the EFL in 2023, late signings have become something of a theme at the Racecourse Ground. Both Arthur Okonkwo and George Evans arrived in the final hours of that year’s summer window, as did their then-record signing Mo Faal a year later.

Only Faal, currently out on loan at Port Vale of League Two, among Wrexham’s six deadline-day signings in the past three summer windows can be said not to have worked out, suggesting patience is usually rewarded at this time of year.

“There’s been a good mood in the squad,” says Parkinson. “I felt this group needed a pre-season together, I really did. Last time, it was disjointed, with players coming in at different times, as we knew it would be.

“We took gambles to get who we wanted. That meant being patient. Someone like Nathan Broadhead, Ipswich did not want to lose him. Those deals always take time. But we feel we have a special talent in Broady, so the wait was worth it.

“He then took a bit of time to get to know us and us to get to know him. Sheafy, the same. But that’s the thing with signing players. They are not just for the next month. They are there for the long term, so sometimes you just have to take a view.”

Ahead of Monday’s trip to Cardiff, The Athletic assesses the business already done in the window.

Wrexham’s Achilles heel on their return to the second tier last summer after 43 years away was pretty clear: Conceding too many goals. Sixty-five across the 46 Championship matches — equal-sixth-highest in the division.

Throw in the 14 scored by the opposition in seven cup ties, and that’s almost 1.5 goals per game. Contrast that with eventual EFL champions Coventry City (48 in 49 in all competitions) and Championship runners-up Ipswich Town (50 in 49).

A factor in this disparity was the sheer volume of shots faced: 622 in the league in Wrexham’s case (the sixth-highest tally in the Championship), to a joint-lowest 485 for Ipswich and Coventry’s 535 (fifth-least).

A good proportion of these admittedly came in the early weeks, as teething troubles at the back led to Okonkwo (who started two of the games) and Danny Ward (the other four) being beaten a combined 12 times in the first six league fixtures amid a barrage of 115 shots raining down on their goal.

Can Ben Whiteman add a little steel to the Wrexham midfield? (Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Nevertheless, this tendency to allow chances persisted throughout the campaign, particularly in the spring when injuries to Sheaf and Matty James meant Wrexham struggled to control the midfield.

This, in turn, left the defence exposed, with Sheffield United having 20 attempts on goal in Wrexham’s 2-1 fightback win at Bramall Lane in mid-March. Others to make hay on the run-in included Oxford United (19), Birmingham City, Coventry (both 15) and Watford (13).

A determination not to be left short again in such a key area explains why a holding midfielder was on the shopping list during a pre-season that has also seen Lewis O’Brien deployed further back after playing most of 2025-26 in an advanced role.

Whiteman arrives with five-and-a-half years of Championship experience under his belt with Preston North End, during which time he honed an ability to sense danger and act accordingly.

Opta ranked the 30-year-old second last season for both blocked shots (0.94 per game) and clearances (3.14 per 90) among the 86 defensive and central Championship midfielders to play more than 900 minutes. His distribution was decent, too, completing eight progressive passes per game, placing him 11th among that same group.

Whiteman maybe wasn’t renowned for purposeful driving runs in midfield at Deepdale, as shown by him being ranked 80th last term for progressive carries with 0.66 per game. But that’s not what Parkinson wants from his holding players, as shown by James being 84th in the same metric.

Another area in which Wrexham need to improve is their results against the top teams. Even when registering the highest placing in their history last season, they won just three and lost six of their 12 meetings with the Championship’s eventual top six.

Contrast that with Hull, who finished one place and two points ahead of them. Six wins and two draws was their return from tackling the five teams who ended the campaign above them in the table, with coach Sergej Jakirovic’s side taking that resilience against better opposition into an ultimately triumphant play-offs campaign.

Anthony Patterson won Premier League promotion with Sunderland in 2025 (Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Goals weren’t necessarily a problem for Wrexham when taking on the top six. Three goals were put past Coventry at home, while Ipswich conceded five on their league visit. But keeping their promotion rivals at bay most definitely was, Parkinson’s men conceding 24 times in those dozen games, 16 of which came on Welsh soil.

Patterson’s arrival from Sunderland of the Premier League should help, the 26-year-old having previously thrived on the big occasion. Twice at Wembley in play-off finals, he made decisive saves to help the Wearside club go from League One to the Premier League.

First, he denied Sam Vokes one-on-one in the third tier’s 2021-22 showpiece against Wycombe Wanderers to preserve a 1-0 advantage that was subsequently doubled by Ross Stewart’s late clincher.

Two years later, he was at it again on the big stage, breaking Sheffield United hearts with a stunning early save to deny now Wrexham team-mate Kieffer Moore and then keeping out Andre Brooks’ effort after the break. Sunderland again capitalised on their goalkeeper’s heroics via a stoppage-time winner from Tommy Watson to return to the Premier League.

Patterson also impressed on loan at Millwall during the second half of last season, keeping seven clean sheets in 16 appearances for a side who finished third in the Championship.

As can be seen below, only Southampton’s Bayern Munich loanee Daniel Peretz had a better rate of preventing goals, with Patterson expected to concede 1.4 goals for every one he actually let in.

Patterson’s tendency to go long with his goal kicks (92 per cent last season) also fits in with Wrexham’s preference to play in the opposition half, though he did mix things up much more in open play while at Millwall (64 per cent were short).

Imray, the first of Wrexham’s three summer signings, can’t match the Championship experience of Patterson or, in particular, Whiteman. He has just the second half of last season at this level to his name, playing 16 times for West Bromwich Albion on loan from top-flight Crystal Palace, for whom he never made a senior appearance after joining their academy in summer 2021.

But the 23-year-old showed on debut against Middlesbrough that he has the ability to thrive on the right flank, both defensively and in attack, where he has big boots to fill after Manchester City loanee Kabore provided eight assists, comfortably the most in the squad last season.

Imray’s crosses posed a threat that night at the Riverside Stadium. It was also noticeable how he heeded Parkinson’s demand for his wing-backs to head for the back post when a delivery is imminent from the opposite flank — he was just unable to connect with one excellent Callum Doyle ball in the first half.

This attacking intent carried on where Imray had left off with West Brom; his ability to drive the ball up the flank illustrated by how he registered the second-most take-ons per 90 among all full-backs in the Championship.

Parkinson is happy with Wrexham’s transfer work so far. But with the window open until 11pm UK time (6pm ET) on September 1, he wants more in a division that looks stronger than last time thanks to the presence of relegated trio West Ham United, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Burnley.

“It is going to be a really exciting season,” adds the Wrexham manager. “The Championship is unpredictable, even from game to game. You must hold your nerve at all times and keep that consistency in your game.

“The depth of the squad has to be strong, it really has. We’re not where we want to be. So, we’ve got some big decisions to make, as always, and hopefully by the end of this transfer window, we’ll have the strength and quality.”

Plenty of work to do yet for Wrexham, and Reynolds, to get the ‘kitchen’ they so desire.

Additional reporting: Conor O’Neill

Arsenal play Manchester City in Sunday’s Community Shield, the annual curtain-raiser ahead of the new Premier League season.

The tournament has existed for over a century, but in 2002 it changed its title from the Charity Shield to its current name.

It had been known since its inception in 1908 as the Charity Shield, a continuation of the original Sheriff of London Charity Shield: an annual one-off match between the best amateur and best professional club in England, which had begun in 1898. The proceeds of the matches would go to charity.

A schism between professional and amateur clubs led to the Football Association (FA) barring clubs from the breakaway Amateur Football Association from participating in the games. A successor competition pitted the Football League winner against the winners of the Southern Football League.

As English football developed on a national league scale, the game was played between invited clubs at various stadia around England.

In 1974, then-FA secretary Ted Croker formalised the format, which lasts to this day, of the champions of England playing the FA Cup winners (or the league runners-up if a team wins the double) of the previous season, generally at Wembley Stadium in London. There have been eight games played away from Wembley since the format changed 52 years ago.

This year’s edition will be played at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, due to an existing concert booking at Wembley.

Why did the match name change?

In 2002, the FA was forced to change the name of the competition by the Charity Commission — the independent, non-ministerial government department that registers and regulates charities in England and Wales.

It came following an inquiry into the 2000 match between Chelsea and Manchester United, which considered claims that charities were not benefiting as they should from the money raised from the game.

Chelsea’s players celebrate with the Charity Shield trophy after beating 2-0 Manchester United at Wembley Stadium in August 2000 (Ben Radford/ALLSPORT)

The Commission judged that the event broke fundraising regulations and requirements set by national charity law.

It also ruled that the FA had failed to specify the amount of money that went to charities, that there were delays in disbursing funds and a lack of transparency over gate revenue allocation.

The findings concluded that ticketholders were not informed exactly how the charities would benefit, although it added that the charities had previously received all the money they should have: 35 per cent of the gate receipts.

Some fans who bought tickets did not receive a “solicitation statement” at the point of sale which would inform them how the money available for charities would be calculated and distributed. The FA had enclosed fliers with tickets purchased through their own system, but it was found that fans who had bought directly from their clubs had not received such information.

The inquiry also found participating clubs had unacceptable delays in making donations to the nominated charities.

Both counts were deemed to breach charity regulations and, as a result, the name had to be changed to no longer include the word ‘charity’.

“We want to ensure that good causes continue to receive financial support from football through the FA Community Shield,” an FA spokesperson said in 2002, when the decision was made.

Where does the money go?

Revenue from ticket and programme sales from the Community Shield is collected by the FA and distributed among the 124 clubs that took part in the FA Cup from the first round onwards.

Each club then donate a portion of the money to up to three local charities or community-based projects of their choice, with any remaining money going to the FA to use towards their own charity partners.

Alzheimer’s Society has been the FA’s official charity partner since 2021 and has an agreement that runs through to the end of the 2027-28 season. Previous charity partners include the British Heart Foundation, Teenage Cancer Trust partnership and Breast Cancer Care.

Proceeds also go to the Wembley Community Club, which serves the community in Brent, the London borough where England’s national stadium is located, by supporting not-for-profit charities, schools and community groups.

The Felix Project, a London-based food distribution charity, also benefits from the Community Shield. During the 2024-25 season, the FA’s funding helped to provide 124,000 meals.

At every event held at Wembley Stadium, including the Community Shield, one per cent of event-day revenue is given to the Wembley Stadium Foundation (independent of Wembley Stadium), which invests in community projects that use sport, movement and culture to remove barriers to access and create opportunities.