No plans to cancel El Clasico – Cardenal

Real Madrid and Barcelona will contest El Clasico as scheduled this weekend, with no talks having been held over postponing the fixture in light of Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris.

Spain were due to play Belgium in a friendly on Tuesday but the match was cancelled for security reasons following the atrocities in the French capital, which has prompted a manhunt on Belgian soil.

Reports suggested that Saturday’s Clasico – one of the highest profile matches in football – at the Santiago Bernabeu could be postponed.

When asked about the situation, the president of the Spanish Sports Council (CSD) Miguel Cardenal said: “We are in safe hands, we trust the security forces and state bodies, who know exactly how to protect us.

“We’re in constant contact with the interior ministry and the secretary of state’s office for security and the message they’ve conveyed to us is one of security.

“There are thousands of people dedicated to analysing the risks and their recommendation is the same: for people to act normally and go about their lives with total freedom.

“We are the people with the most interest in preventing anything from happening and when the advice is to cancel a match, we’ll do it.

“Agreement is absolute across Spain in these circumstances.

“The security measures in our country are extraordinary. Prevention is robust and the measures are sufficient to guarantee security to the people.

“There will always be maximum security in every moment.”