The traditional El Clasico between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid will take place in the semi-finals of the Spanish Supercopa on Wednesday. Despite many enthusiastic fans, the game is not broadcast live in Germany.
For decades, the encounters between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid have kept football fans around the world going. The traditional El Clasico is one of the biggest football highlights of this season even after the change of superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. On Wednesday, the arch-rivals meet in the semi-finals of the Supercopa.
Both FC Barcelona and Real Madrid have won the Spanish version of the German Supercup several times since 1982. Originally, only the cup winners and the reigning champions met each other. In 2019, the competition was expanded to include the respective runners-up. The reigning champions Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao will join the two heavyweights.
For Barca, the Supercopa is a welcome distraction from the difficult everyday life of the league. It is quite possible that new signing Ferran Torres will make his debut for the Catalans. Real are the current leaders of the La Liga with a lot of self-confidence in the game.
The game takes place in Saudi Arabia
In the run-up to the game, however, it is not the football that causes a stir, but above all the venue. After all, the meeting will not take place in the Spanish capital, but in the Saudi Arabian Riyadh. According to various media reports, the Spanish association RFEF signed a contract for a total of 120 million euros with Saudi Arabia three years ago to move the games to the Arabian Peninsula.
Bilbao captain Raul Garcia criticized the venue in Saudi Arabia shortly before the tournament, also with regard to the corona pandemic: “That doesn’t make sense. Football has changed, we no longer think about the fans”. Activists and the media have repeatedly expressed their displeasure against the partnership in the past.
No live stream or TV broadcast of the Clasico
While the La Liga games and the Spanish Cup have been broadcast by the DAZN streaming service for years, the DAZN deliberately did not secure the broadcast rights to the Supercopa. Thus, El Clasico is neither on DAZN nor on the payment channel Sky. Eurosport and the public TV channels ARD and ZDF do not broadcast the encounter either.
In Spain, too, the public television broadcaster TVE is boycotting the competition for the second time since 2019. Last year, the encounter was held in Spain due to the pandemic. In contrast to German fans, the Spaniards can watch the games live. All games are broadcast by the Pay TV broadcaster Movistar.
Supercopa has a significant impact on league operations
After the top game on Wednesday, Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao will meet in the second semi-final on Thursday. The final will take place on Sunday. All Supercopa games will kick off at 8 p.m. in the King Fahd International Stadium.
Thus, the curious venue is also leaving its mark on the Spanish league. Due to the Supercopa, the entire 21st league matchday had to be dismembered. Many games only follow during the week. The meeting between Bilbao and Real took place shortly before Christmas.
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Source From: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
