Twelve thousand, in 1923, gathered in the stands of the Velodrome of Ciudad Lineal, in Madrid, to attend the first final disputed between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. Ninety-seven years later, the clubs of the two halves of the Spanish capital clash again with a trophy at stake. But it is on the banks of the Red Sea, in Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia, that the White House and the Colchoneros will compete, Sunday, January 12, the final of the Spanish Supercup (7 p.m. French time).
In time for custom. This year, neither the winner of the last Spanish championship, nor that of the last King's Cup are present at this final of a trophy reinvented on the model of a fatal “Final Four” at FC Barcelona and Valencia – the two winners in question. Sunday at the King Abdullah stadium (62,000 seats), it is a delocalized Madrid derby that will take place, more than 6,000 km from Madrid.
According to the Spanish press, to offer this prestigious poster, the Saudi kingdom, which has made sport an important axis of its diplomacy, has spent no less than 120 million euros over three years. And like the Italian Super Cup, which has been running for two years in Saudi Arabia, the Spanish organization has not avoided controversy.
If in most European championships, it has become customary to relocate its "super cup" between the winner of the championship and that of the National Cup – France has thus walked its "Champions Trophy" from Libreville (Gabon) to Shenzhen (China) via Montreal (Canada) -, these meetings usually take place before the start of the season. And without much interest.
"Football has become business"
Relatively economically supplanted in recent seasons by the English championship, the La Liga attempted this revolution to revitalize a competition that was losing momentum, despite the domination of Spanish clubs in Europe. " The Supercup had two options: either end this competition or look for an attractive format that will generate much more interest and income. ”, justified in November the president of the Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, to justify this development.
Criticized for standing in a country “Where human rights are not respected, and in particular those of women” by the public broadcaster, TVE, and the UEFA president, Aleksander Ceferin, the meeting did not attract crowds of promised socios. "Nobody wants to go to the Super Cup", headlined the daily on Monday El Mundo, explaining that only a thousand of the 12,000 tickets on sale in Spain had passed. Of which only 26, in Valencia – club whose supporters are upwind against the Singaporean owner, Peter Lim.
“Football has become a business and is seeking income. This is why we are all here, denounced Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde before his club were eliminated by Atletico in the semi-final of this reformed competition. It’s a completely different format than what we’re used to. It was still the first title and the first game of the season and for me it felt good. "
"Super Cup of Discord", according to El Pais, the final Sunday between Atletico and Real will allow, for a time, to award a winner between rival clubs. Neither of them take the competition lightly, despite a number of players who have been put to rest (Karim Benzema or Gareth Bale, in particular, on the Real side). As French coach Madrid Zinedine Zidane summed it up: "This is an important match, there is a trophy at stake."
