Barcelona delayed by rats

An infestation of rats delayed the Barcelona squad as they prepared to fly to Madrid for tonight's El Clasico fixture, according to Cadena SER.

The plane that Barca had planned to use to travel to the Spanish capital was found to be plagued with rodents and a fumigation team was called in to work throughout the night to eradicate the problem.

Fog then caused the squad's flight to be delayed by 30 minutes, before they eventually took off at 11am.

Assistant manager Tito Vilanova, who recently underwent gland surgery, has travelled to Madrid by train on medical advice.