Bizarre performance outside Spanish Supercup causes more frustration with Saudi Arabia | OneFootball

Barcelona beat Osasuna, while Real Madrid overcame Atletico Madrid in the Spanish Supercup semi-finals, to set up a Clasico final on Sunday evening. No doubt the Saudi Arabian organisers will be delighted, but the backlash against the location of the tournament continues.

Osasuna were furious with what they felt was unfair refereeing against Barcelona, and were quick to point out that the competition was deliberately structured for the Blaugrana to meet Los Blancos. Meanwhile Diego Simeone poured scorn on the value of hosting the event in Saudi Arabia, as very few Atletico fans attended.

Meanwhile Saudi fans riled up a reaction by booing the minute’s silence for Franz Beckenbauer, and then booing Toni Kroos for his comments about the country lacking human rights, and saying players only go to the Saudi league for money.

The latest frustration with the event was the pre-match entertainment outside of Barcelona against Osasuna. A parade of freestyle footballers moved outside of the stadium dressed in Osasuna and Barcelona kits, looking like a bizarre AI construction of what happens outside of a football match. Behind them though, were dancers dressed in traditional Flamenco and matador outfits, dancing not to traditional Flamenco music, but to Daft Punk’s Get Lucky.

That might have struck some Spaniards as off, but more absurd was the fact that Flamenco is not from either of the regions involved in the Barcelona-Osasuna semi-final, those being Catalonia and Navarra. Flamenco is native to Andalusia in the south of Spain, and not part of Catalan, Navarrese or Basque culture.

The Spanish Supercup began being hosted in Saudi Arabia four years ago, after the Spanish Football Federation agreed a 10-year deal with the Gulf State, which pays them €40m per season. The clubs receive around €21m of that, although Barcelona and Real Madrid split the majority of it.