Elche faces a packed schedule that continues to shape attendance and fan engagement across La Liga. The scheduling pattern, driven by television rights holders and the distribution choices of operators, has put Elche in a position where a large portion of their fixtures land on Mondays. This has sparked discussions among Franjiverdes supporters about the club’s travel plans, gate receipts, and the overall rhythm of the season. The core question many fans ask is why Elche ends up playing so many Monday games.
Elche is set to host Mallorca this Monday at 9:00 am, marking their fourth match in just eight days. The cadence here is a rare one in the modern league calendar, with little room for rest days between matches, apart from the usual weekend breaks. The compressed schedule adds complexity to fan participation at the Martínez Valero stadium and to travel for away games, where enthusiasm can waver under the strain of rapid turnarounds.
The landscape of Spanish professional football is shaped by La Liga president Javier Tebas and the football rights holders Movistar and DAZN, who determine broadcasting slots. The allocation of daily play times has, in many cases, manifested as a disadvantage for Elche, a club that has traditionally found itself scheduled for Mondays more often than most. To date, seven Monday matches have already been played this season, with several more on the horizon.
The season began with Monday fixtures that tested the appetite of local fans. August 15 brought a clash on a Monday that coincided with Benito Villamarín’s day, a city-wide celebration that dampened the initial euphoria surrounding Elche’s centennial campaign. Travel plans were scaled back as a result, and fan participation did not reach the anticipated levels.
By the second round of fixtures, Elche returned to league action every week, maintaining a pattern that excludes weekend-only games. The schedule for August 22 saw them face Almería on a Monday, continuing a trend of weekday fixtures that reduces opportunities for the usual weekend crowd. A stretch of four matches in rapid succession followed, with the last two continuing to fall on Mondays, reinforcing the pattern of weekday football for the club.
October brought another wave of Monday matches. On October 3, Elche visited Vallecas to meet Rayo Vallecano, and on October 10 they were again slated to play on Monday, this time hosting Mallorca. The impact of these midweek fixtures goes beyond the terraces. It also shapes club logistics, travel planning for fans, and the ability of supporters to attend away matches, especially when the journey is long or involves cross-country travel.
Few teams escape this Monday-heavy schedule. After Elche, the club with the next highest number of Monday appearances is Almería, tallying three such fixtures. Almería’s pattern included trips to Osasuna, Valladolid, and a home match, underscoring how La Liga often places clubs outside the traditional weekend window.
Several other teams, including Girona, Getafe, Cadiz, Valladolid, Osasuna, Rayo Vallecano, and Mallorca, have appeared on Mondays only once so far. The distribution among the larger clubs is more uneven. The notable exception among the big teams shows Atlético Madrid, which has not featured on a Monday recently, while Valencia, Athletic Bilbao, Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Sevilla also have varied schedules that do not necessarily align with the Monday-only rule.
There are seven clubs that have not played a Monday match at all this season. Even among the heavyweight contenders for the title, such as Real Madrid and Barcelona, the Monday schedule has not been the norm. Real Sociedad, Villarreal, Celtic (the naming here reflects a local or broadcast designation rather than a direct club reference) and others have seen different patterns, with some fixtures shifted to the following week or spread across the midweek period.
A notable upcoming midweek clash for Elche adds to the calendar weariness: a Real Madrid game scheduled for Wednesday raises anticipation among fans and adds to the week-length travel logistics. Midweek games bring heightened demand for transport and accommodation, while also testing the stamina of squads and the loyalty of supporters who must balance work, school, and travel.
Looking ahead, the schedule continues to reflect a mix of Monday and midweek fixtures across the league. The list of Monday games includes a slate of clubs with varying priorities and fan bases, illustrating how scheduling decisions ripple through attendance, broadcasting appeal, and the overall pace of the season. The distribution of Monday matches across the league helps explain why some clubs appear more frequently on Mondays than others, with Elche among the most regular beneficiaries of this pattern.
List of matches where each team played on Monday
Elche 4
Almería 3
Cadiz 1
Valladolid 1
Atletico Madrid 1
Girona 1
Getafe 1
Athletic Bilbao 1
Valencia 1
Valladolid 1
Rayo Vallecano 1
Mallorca 1
Real Madrid 0
Barcelona 0
Sevilla 0
Villarreal 0
Real Sociedad 0
Celta 0