The Spanish Super Cup will be played for the third time in Saudi Arabia. The Real Madrid-Valencia match will open the competition on January 11, again in Riyadh, while a day later Betis and Barcelona will play the second semifinal, as announced by the RFEF on Friday.
Real Madrid, defender of the title, competes as LaLiga champion, Valencia as runner-up in the Copa del Rey, a tournament that Betis won last year, and Barcelona as second in the regularity competition. The white team beat Valencia 3-1 in one of the 2020 semifinals, the first edition that was played in Saudi Arabia, in that case in Jeddah.
Last year, already in Riyadh, Real Madrid beat Barcelona 3-2 in extra time in the semifinals and Athletic (2-0) in the final, who had eliminated Atlético de Madrid (2-1). Also in 2020, the whites were crowned champions in Saudi Arabia. Instead, the following year outside the Arabian Peninsula and due to the pandemic, the champion was Athletic.
Betis will play this tournament for the first time under the current format. The only time they played in the Spanish Super Cup was in 2005. They fell to Barcelona after losing at home 0-3 in the first leg and winning 1-2 at the Camp Nou in the second leg. The competition will be offered by Movistar.
The final will be on Sunday the 15th. The three matches will be played again at the King Fahd stadium in Riyadh, with a capacity for more than 60,000 spectators.
