It was hoped that reconstruction of the stadium would not impact overall match schedule and yet exactly that is happening after just days of actual works. Real is asking to extend its hiatus from Bernabéu until September.

Though early announcements suggested work around Santiago Bernabéu would not interfere with football fixtures, this already isn't the case, after just over a week of actual reconstruction.

At first Real Madrid were hoping to use all of the break between seasons to remove current roof from the stadium, but this has proven to be impossible in the earmarked time.

For that very reason the club have filed a notion to La Liga for their three first games of 2019/20 to be played away from home. This way they wouldn't kick the ball at Bernabéu until September, when the site should be safe to welcome fans once more.

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It's expected that La Liga will make its decision known on Thursday and that decision should be to give Real the green light. After all, various concessions have been made for clubs working on their stadia, including Atletico just 2 years ago, when Wanda Metropolitano wasn't entirely ready for season opener.

While it was hoped that the operation would be smooth, this year will also not see the Troefo Bernabéu, a friendly trophy played every summer to celebrate Real's famous former president.

It's a bit of a letdown since it's exactly 40 years this year since the tournament began. At the same time, collisions with other fixtures led to it having been cancelled also in 2014, just 5 years ago. Therefore the 40th edition would not have been this year anyway.