El Clasico: LaLiga braces for first blockbuster contest of COVID-era with 100+ activations

Football is slowly returning to rmalcy after start-stop COVID-affected 2019-20 season. Entering Matchday 7 in LaLiga, fans are bracing for first El Clasico of COVID-era, which is scheduled for Saturday, October 24. While fans will still t be allowed in stiums, Spanish top flight has a trick up its sleeve as it looks to capitalise on popularity of most-watched club game in world football. 

Real Mrid and Barcelona will be meeting for 181st time in league, and LaLiga looks all set to make it a spectacle unlike any or fixture in football. On Thursday, LaLiga anunced it is partnering with over 100 streaming partners to celebrate El Clasico festival. This will include more than 100 El Clasico-med live-action events organised across world for public viewing that can accommodate up to 700 fans. Shanghai, Vietnam, Dubai, Nigeria, Kenya are just some of places where watch parties will be organised for live streaming.

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In dition, league will also be hosting game in a series of drive-in cinema locations across Mexico, Ecuor, Columbia and Argentina. Last but t least, league will be providing a flagship viewing experience in popular fan areas in countries like India, United States, Australia and ors. Red carpets will be lined in seven iconic locations across world for a flagship experience. In India, same will be hosted at Red Fort, in New Delhi.

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All in all, league is planning to provide an unreal El Clasico experience to more than 650 million fans across world. Real Mrid vs Barcelona match will also feature new brocast graphics and statistics as Spanish top-flight looks to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) to enhance viewing experience. To complete well-rounded pack, an online Fan Zone will be hosted on Saturday will offer fans a chance to win replica shirts of club y support. Score Words LaLiga, an online mobile game, will also be launched. 

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El Clasico team news, preview

Real Mrid and Barcelona have both lost one and drawn ar in ir opening five and four matches, respectively. Barcelona are coming off a stellar 5-1 win over Ferencvaros in Champions League, while Real lost 2-3 to Shakhtar Donetsk during mid-week. Real are entering El Clasico on back to two consecutive defeats.

Jordi Alba, Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Samuel Umititi will be unavailable for Catalan side while Zinedine Zidane will be missing services of Daniel Carvajal, Eden Hazard and Martin Odegaard on Saturday. Captain Sergio Ramos could miss out too with a mir injury.

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(Im Credits: LaLiga Official Website)