Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 7y

Celta Vigo vs. Real Madrid postponed after wind damages stadium

La Liga has confirmed that Real Madrid's game at Celta Vigo on Sunday has been postponed after extreme weather caused damage to their Balaidos stadium.

Madrid were set to return to Balaidos, where they were eliminated from the Copa del Rey 10 days ago, with coach Zinedine Zidane saying he was looking forward to the match at his pregame news conference on Saturday morning.

But with winds of up to 140 kilometres an hour reported throughout Galicia -- and having caused the postponement of Friday's game between Deportivo La Coruna and Real Betis -- Vigo mayor Abel Caballero told Radio Vigo, in quotes reported by AS, that it would be impossible for a game to be played this weekend.

"I have already spoken with the Celta president and they are putting together the technical report at the moment," Cabellero said. "The decision is irreversible. Last night the storm was very severe, it lifted part of the roof -- the firemen could not get in to fix it.

"The pitch is not match-ready. For us security is the most important, and in these conditions you cannot play tomorrow. We have agreed that with the president, the coaches, the firemen and all those involved. Unfortunately it must be postponed to another date."

A statement on the official website of La Liga read: "According to the report of the city of Vigo, Balaidos Stadium is not safe for spectators and players to attend the match tomorrow. Having received this information, La Liga and Real Club Celta have transferred this report to the RFEF [Spanish Football Federation].

"La Liga will propose possible dates to play the game in question, taking into account the opinion of the clubs and the television operators, so that the president of the RFEF can decide the new date."

Local city newspaper El Faro de Vigo published a slideshow of images which showed the extent of damage done to Celta's stadium by heavy winds overnight.

Celta had been expected to rest up to nine first team players for the game, given their current priority is Wednesday's Copa del Rey semifinal second leg at Alaves, and hopes of taking a step closer to the club's first-ever senior trophy.

Madrid will be facing potential fixture congestion as, due to their successful trip to the Club World Cup in December, they already have a re-arranged game which is set to be played at Valencia on Feb. 22. There is as yet no new date for the fixture against Celta.

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