Al Clasico

Real Madrid and Barcelona are fighting for the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia. Why will the match still take place despite criticism from all sides?

On January 12, Real Madrid will play against Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final for the third time in a row. El Clasico, as the meetings between two teams are usually called, is not just a derby, but a fundamental confrontation: Madrid versus Catalonia, the capital versus autonomy. However, not all residents of Spain will be able to see the match live: the tournament moved to another region several years ago, which caused a lot of discontent among the fans.

The Spanish Super Cup is not the only European football tournament now taking place in Arab countries. Thus, in early January, the Italian Super Cup was played for the third time in a row in Saudi Arabia, and the match for the French Super Cup this year took place in Qatar. Read about why, despite criticism from fans, international organizations and even participants, the Spanish Super Cup is not going to leave Saudi Arabia, and what to expect from the match.

Path to the final

For the last six years, the Spanish Super Cup has been held as a final four. The national champion (last season it was Real Madrid), the vice-champion (Barcelona), the Cup winner (Athletic Bilbao) and the finalist (Mallorca) compete. The favorites will earn more, but decided to split the prize money with their opponents. Thus, Mallorca will receive an additional €400 thousand and earn €1.3 million. Athletics, Real Madrid and Barcelona will also receive more than what was planned by the federation.

In the first round, both giants confidently beat their opponents. Real beat Mallorca with a score of 3:0, the game turned out to be controversial. After the game, the “creamy” striker ( this nickname was given to the Real Madrid players because of the color of the uniform - Ed. ) Vinicius Junior almost got into a clash in the sub-tribune with the opposing defender Pablo Maffeo. Before the match, he promised to knock out his opponent in 10 seconds in the event of a boxing match, but at the game he spectacularly collapsed from the touch. The teams fought and at the end of the match, Maffeo again found himself at the epicenter.

Barcelona won Athletic (2:0). At the same time, the Catalans fought with bureaucracy and eventually circumvented the rules of financial fair play. Barça was able to sign up two players for the second part of the season;

Athletic President Hon Uriarte called the incident grotesque. Because of this situation, Barcelona President Joan Laporta swore loudly at football officials right in the box and kicked something.

What's wrong with Saudi Arabia

The tournament is being hosted by Saudi Arabia for the fifth time. The Royal Spanish Football Federation did this for the money: it receives €40 million every year. The then Barcelona player Gerard Pique had a hand in the deal and also made money on it. After the game between Real Madrid and Mallorca, the coach of the Royal Club, Carlo Ancelotti, said that the pace of the match was greatly affected by the heat. In general, he supported the transfer of the tournament to Saudi Arabia.

Athletic striker Iñaki Williams, on the contrary, criticized : “It’s a shame that we have to play hundreds of kilometers from our people, from our families. It makes no sense for me to play in Arabia, but that's how football is now, it's a shame, I'm really sorry."

In turn, the wives of Mallorca players complained of harassment: local fans photographed them close, touched and pushed them. Spanish fans were harassed and there was no security.

“After the match, when we were heading to the bus, we were surrounded by a corridor of people who were jeering, shouting ridicule and groping women. <…> After what we experienced, we will not come again,” said the father of Mallorca footballer Quique Darder.

Due to violations of women's rights in the country, the idea was criticized by UEFA, the Spanish Minister of Education and the human rights organization Amnesty International. As a result, fans were allowed to attend matches without restrictions.

For several years now, Saudi Arabia has been actively investing in sports in general ($6.3 billion in 2021–2023), and in football in particular. Thus, the country has already hosted five Italian Super Cups. The majority owner of the English football club Newcastle is the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF). Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Beznema, Neymar, Riyad Mahrez, N'Golo Kante, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane play in the Saudi championship.

Human rights activists suspect Riyadh of sportswashing - an attempt to whitewash the state’s reputation through sports.

“Saudi sports propaganda has peaked at a time when the human rights record has deteriorated alarmingly, following the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the jailing of women's rights activists and a series of indiscriminate Saudi missile strikes in Yemen. " Amnesty International said in 2022.

What to expect from the match

Madrid defeated the Catalans last year and lost to them in 2023. The teams met 258 times in official tournaments, Real won 4 times more. The last time the teams met was in October last year - then Barcelona defeated their rival 4:0 in a Spanish championship match.

In the Super Cup final, bookmakers do not see a clear favorite, and analysts, whose columns were studied by Novaya Gazeta Europe, agree with them. The authors of the Superdeporte newspaper predict that the match will be productive: more than two goals will be scored. All the main stars are expected to take to the field: Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior, Lamin Yamal and Robert Lewandowski.

The CBS Sports analyst is looking forward to an exciting game. He pays attention to the offside traps and speedy Lamin Yamal of the Catalans, as well as the long-range shots of Real Madrid's Federico Valverde.

Cream coach Carlo Ancelotti said that the team is close to another title and is positive, but the result cannot be predicted. Barcelona coach Hans-Dieter Flick called El Clasico in the Super Cup something fantastic.

For Real, the victory in the Super Cup will be the second in a row and the 14th overall. Barcelona, ​​if successful, will get even for last year's defeat and take the 15th award in this tournament.