Rayo Vallecano-Athletic becomes another suspended match

The match between Rayo Vallecano and Athletic was suspended once again; it is not the first meeting between the sides to meet that fate. For Terzic’s Athletic, it was a second suspended match. The Vallecas fixture, the previous day, followed the one on 16 September at Ciutat de València.

The circumstances were different. The first match was called off because of heavy rain and strong winds. At Vallecas, the suspension came after repeated, large-scale launches of paper aeroplanes and paper balls.

Athletic had previously had to wait before travelling to face Rayo. On 1 September 2018, the meeting between the teams was postponed because of problems with the structure at Vallecas.

The club had also experienced other suspensions or postponements. On 25 August 2011, Athletic did not play Trabzonspor in Turkey after UEFA excluded Fenerbahçe from the Champions League, giving its place to Athletic’s opponent and sending Athletic into the Europa League. The following year, the visit to Hapoel Kiryat was postponed after an attack in Tel-Aviv, shortly before the Bilbao flight to Israel was due to depart.