TOSaudi rage dreamed of seeing such a match in the stadium King Fahd International of Riyadh a match like the one that will take place on Wednesday. On one side Real Madrid. To the other Barcelona. The easiest way to achieve this was with the typical friendly match, but they were looking for something more, to become the center of the football world for a few hours and they knew that for this they had to put something more at stake than just one more friendly. A Classic without more, no, they wanted a Classic with capital letters. Three years later, the appointment appears on the Saudi horizon, a country that seeks international pardon through sport.
The first of the editions had the presence of the two teams, but they did not see the faces. Messi and Zidane were the sought after idols, the coach in the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo, already at Juventus. The elimination of Barcelona at the hands of Atlético prevented it. Now white’s second place in the League and the Barça cup-bearer title make possible the Arab desire for a Clásico in Riyadh.
The delicate situation Barça will put the morbid to a party full of attractions. Two years ago, the hasty goodbye from Barcelona struck down Valverde. On this occasion, the stability of the project is at stake Xavi against the solvency of Real Madrid of Ancelotti. Atlético and Athletic complete the line-up of a tournament that is only comparable, in terms of quality of the teams, to the final four that Ceferin has in mind for the Champions League.
While this was happening, in Spain they were looking for accommodation to the then uncomfortable Super Cup. What if I match in one stadium, in the other … Not very attractive due to dates and holidays, no gap in the calendar, not very generous economically … it was more of a hindrance than anything else.
The arrival of Luis rubiales to the federative presidency it supposed a change at many levels, mainly in two of them, the economic one and the sport one. The first of them says the budget. From 147 in 2017, it has risen to 406 million euros by 2022. All said. In sports, the competitions are the ones that speak: Cup, Super Cup, First RFEF …
A new Super Cup
The first attempt to change the Super Cup took place in 2018. The calendar did not allow to go to the classic round trip and on the fly Rabat appeared to solve the ballot. Unique match that left Barcelona as the winner. The initiative lit the fuse in the Federation and in some companies. Months later, Rubiales, in a meeting with one of those interested in giving a return to the Super Cup, launched the idea of a final four and the company in question spoke of Saudi Arabia as a sports and economic destination.
There were two problems to overcome, not being able to play in the summer and having to adapt the calendar and the Cup to the demands of having to play in the month of January. The president of the Federation, together with Alfredo Olivares, began to spin around the Cup format until he found the key of the current system, ‘made in Rubiales’ and that he has managed to relaunch the format of a title that seemed asleep.
As there were four participating teams (LaLiga and Copa winner and finalist and second in the domestic championship) it was necessary to release the teams from two cup rounds, something that the change in format made possible. If the contract is fulfilled until 2029, the Super Cup would report to the coffers of the Federation and to Spanish football between 240 million and 320 million euros guaranteed, money that would go to the participants and modest football.
