La Liga boss Javier Tebas refuses to consider Madrid derby time change

La Liga boss Javier Tebas refused to rule out a change of time or date for the Madrid derby despite Atletico's protestations at the lack of fairness in the schedule.

Los rojiblancos play PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday the 24th of February before lining out against their La Liga rivals just three days later at 3pm GMT on the 27th.

An authorised club spokesperson told Marca, "We're going to try and ensure that common sense prevails and they allow us to compete on a level playing field. It's clearly an injustice and will prevent us from going into the game in tip-top condition. It's a game against a Spanish team that plays Champions League football, let's not forget that."

Texas, however, told Marca:

If we look at the newspaper archive I think Valencia have complained about the same thing, and Madrid and Barcelona. This happens several times throughout the season with those that play Champions League midweek. This is the way, this is the calendar and its right. There are joint interests and that's when it will be played. The change is totally ruled out. Saturday at 16:00 is the best time for television.

Real Madrid, on the other hand, play AS Roma on the 17th of February and play Malaga away in the league the following Saturday. This leaves a full seven days between this clash and the Madrid derby while Atletico will ultimately have to prepare for the biggest game of their season with one light training session after the PSV game.

Without exaggeration, this could decide the title race and it appears La Liga are unwilling to consider a change given their recent attempts at eating into Premier League interest by scheduling the best match-ups at the same time as their counterparts in England.