Barcelona’s hopes of playing the Copa del Rey final at the Santiago Bernabeu have been dashed after it was confirmed music legend Bruce Springsteen will perform at the venue on the same day.
The Catalan outfit had wanted the showpiece event on the 21st May (it could be moved to 22nd May if Sevilla reach the Europa League final) to be held at the iconic stadium in the Spanish capital – but the dates clash with when Springsteen is in town.
Officially, Barcelona had wanted the final to be played at the Bernabeu because it is the largest stadium other that their own and can accommodate 90,000 fans. The location, roughly equidistant between Barcelona in the north east of Spain and Sevilla in the south made it an obvious neutral venue for the final to be played.
Unofficially though the Catalan outfit were determined to have the final played their so they could celebrate in the back garden of their fierce rivals should they be victorious. Los Blancos president Florentino Perez had steadfastly refused to have the game held at the stadium though, prompting ex-Barca chief Joan Gaspart to call on him to reveal his reasons why.
Atletico de Madrid’s Vicente Calderon or Valencia’s Mestalla stadium, both of which have held the final in recent years, will now be the next best choices for the game to be played at.
