ITV has made football fans' dreams come to true after announcing that it will broadcast the upcoming La Liga season.
No UK-based company came forward with a bid high enough to purchase the rights to show the top-flight Spanish league before the 25th July deadline.
And that has now meant that ITV is able to show the first three weeks of the season for free.
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ITV4 will broadcast the action live in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, with highlights from the matches also shown on ITV.
Barcelona will kick off their title defence in the opening
La Liga clash tomorrow against Athletic Bilbao at 8pm UK time.
Posted below are the three fixtures confirmed for ITV4.
- Matchday 1: Friday 16th August -- Athletic Bilbao vs Barcelona at 8pm BST
- Matchday 2: Sunday 25th August -- Barcelona vs Real Betis at 8pm BST
- Matchday 3: Sunday 1st September -- Villarreal vs Real Madrid at 8pm BST
ITV purchased the final few months of the previous La Liga
season and will once again show matches from the league this season.
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According to La Liga, the bids submitted for the rights did not meet their valuation.
And La Liga matches being shown in the UK remain in the air until the right offer comes about.
Joris Evers, the head of communications for La Liga, told Football Espana: "After assessing all bids and required additional documentation from participating bidders, La Liga has declared the tender null and void because no satisfactory bids were received.
"La Liga thanks all participants in the tender for their interest and shall inform soon about next steps."
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Sky Sports had previously shown Spain's top domestic league in the UK for years.
But the broadcaster lost the rights last summer and subscription-based service Eleven Sports snapped up La Liga on a three-year deal.
However, Eleven Sports has been struggling to build a growing subscriber base and lost the rights to show Serie A matches in the UK in January.
Eleven Sports were also dealt a major blow when their agreement with La Liga was cut short after failing to build up their subscriber count last December.
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Will Barcelona retain the La Liga title?
Let us know in the comments.
Featured Image Credit: PA/ITVTopics: Football News, Football, Sky Sports, Spain, ITV, UK, La Liga