RIYADH: La Liga giants Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Valencia will play in a new four-way Spanish Super Cup to be held in Saudi Arabia next year.
A tweet on Monday from Prince Abdul Aziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, chairman of the Saudi General Sports Authority, confirmed the participation of the teams in a “Super Spanish” tournament, slated to take place between Jan. 8-12. The Spanish Football Federation gave Saudi Arabia a three-year deal on Monday.
The prince said the tournament was part of Saudi Arabia’s ongoing efforts to host major global sporting events.
The Spanish Super Cup was previously a one-off match between the Liga and Copa del Rey champions at the start of the season. But the federation has changed it to semifinals and final featuring four teams — the top teams in each competition — in the middle of the season.
Real Madrid will face Copa del Rey holder Valencia in the first semifinal on Jan. 8 at King Abdullah Sports City stadium outside Jeddah, then Liga champion Barcelona plays Atletico Madrid in the second semi the next day at the same venue.
The final will be on Jan. 12. Barcelona won last year's Super Cup in Morocco.
The Kingdom previously hosted the Italian Super Cup final in 2018 and will do so again in December this year.
Saudi Arabia also hosted the "Super Clasico" clash between Brazil and Argentina in 2018, with Miranda scoring a late winning goal at the King Abdullah Sports City stadium in Jeddah.
