Snowstorm forces postponement of Atlético vs Bilbao

MADRID (AP) - A winter storm blanketing Madrid in its biggest snowfall in recent memory forced the postponement of Saturday's match between Spanish league leader Atlético Madrid and Athletic Bilbao after the Basque club's plane was unable to land in the capital.

The Spanish football federation postponed the match and has yet to determine a new date in a fixture calendar that is already tightly packed due to the season's late start because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Bilbao was to play at Atlético's Wanda Metropolitano Stadium on Saturday afternoon, but the Basque club was unable to travel to Madrid as planned.

Bilbao was on its way to the capital on Friday but its plane was forced to turn around when the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas International Airport was shut down by the wintry weather.

The blizzard has covered large parts of Spain with snow, blocking traffic and leaving thousands of people trapped in cars or in train stations and airports that have suspended all services.

Atlético entered the round leading the league by two points ahead of Real Madrid.

Real Madrid was able to leave Madrid's airport Friday night and fly to Pamplona, where it will face Osasuna on Saturday.

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