Valencia-Madrid postponed amid fatal flooding

Real Madrid‘s LaLiga match at Valencia on Saturday has been postponed because of the deadly flash floods in Spain.

The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) announced on Thursday that all games this weekend in the Valencian region will be rescheduled as per LaLiga’s request.

The Spanish government declared three days of mourning with at least 150 people dead and “many people” missing following the worst natural disaster to hit Spain this century.

Saturday’s LaLiga game between Villarreal and Rayo Vallecano and Levante’s second division home game against Malaga on Monday have also been postponed.

Two games in Liga F have also been cancelled, including Real Madrid‘s game against Levante.

Earlier this week, the RFEF rescheduled Valencia’s Copa del Rey match at Parla that was due to be played on Wednesday.

Before Valencia’s training session on Wednesday, the squad observed a moment of silence at its training center in honour of the victims. Some of the team’s players were absent because of the transportation difficulties caused by the storms.

The club said they joined forces with the Valencia Food Bank, and their stadium became “a deposit for food and basic needs.”

“Mestalla will be at the service of the city to cope with the emergency caused by the [floods].”

The death toll was expected to rise as an unknown number of people were still missing. Search efforts were ongoing and some vehicles with bodies were yet to be reached. The aftermath of the floods from late Tuesday to early Wednesday looked eerily similar to the damage left by a hurricane or tsunami, with cars piled up alongside uprooted trees and downed power lines.

LaLiga announced that a minute’s silence will be observed ahead of all games to be played this weekend to show respect for the victims of the devastating flash floods.

Madrid are second in LaLiga, six points adrift of Barcelona, who host Espanyol in Sunday’s city derby.

Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.