FC Barcelona: Full 2012/13 La Liga Schedule

The fixture list for the 2012/13 La Liga season was released today, and while it couldn’t possibly throw out any surprises, it makes for fascinating reading nonetheless. Barcelona have been handed a relatively straight-forward opener with Real Sociedad the visitors at the Camp Nou, while the first away game of the season against Osasuna will be a tricky test, but could have been much worse. Other standout fixtures are of course the two Clasicos which will be contested on Jornada 7 at the Camp Nou and Jornada 26 at the Bernabeu, while Barcelona will finish the season at home to Malaga.

Judging from the fixture list alone, the first half of the season appears to be easier with the majority of the "big" matches at the Camp Nou, meaning that the second half of the season (on paper) looks more difficult with the trips to Valencia, Real Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, Atletico Madrid and Espanyol all falling into the latter half of the season. Furthermore, it appears that thanks to their timing, and the fixtures directly afterwards (at least for the Barcelona side of things), the Clasicos are unlikely to be as pivotal as they have been in previous seasons. After all, if the worst were to happen and Barca lost the Clasico at the Bernabeu they could easily pick themselves up in the following six games. Whatever the case, a full week-by-week schedule is after the jump, although there are no exact dates, nor does it take the UEFA Champions League or the Copa del Rey into consideration.