The RFEF have confirmed the highly-anticipated Copa del Rey ‘El Clasico’ final between Barcelona and Real Madrid will be played on Wednesday 16th April, 2014 at 9:30pm at Valencia’s La Mestalla stadium, to allow the fans and players to travel to the match before commencing Easter holiday activities and not requiring La Liga to change their schedule to accommodate the teams and venue.
The final was originally scheduled for Saturday 19th April, but Spanish football’s governing body chose to reassess the final date due to it falling the evening before Easter.
In Spain, Semana Santa or Holy Week, is filled with festivities and processions which fill the streets and complicated traffic, among other things.
After the final was decided, RFEF secretary general, Jorge Perez revealed that the Federation was considering the possibility of scheduling the final on Friday 18th April rather than it’s original date of Saturday 19th April, but Thursday 17th April had further advantages.
“If [changing the date] is proposed to us, we’ll take it into consideration and if there are no other issues, it could be changed. Friday is a good night too. We’re holding finals on Saturday and some on Friday so the people don’t have to rush back to their place of origin. Good Thursday is also a good option, because in the case of Real Madrid or Barcelona, should they happen to make it that far, it would give them an additional day of rest before the Champions League matches that following week.
“The final will be on Holy Week and we have to take into consideration the thousands who will be leaving on holiday. The fans need to make plans and arrange everything. Having the game on Holy Thursday also as an added advantage; it will have a lesser affect on those leaving on holiday for Semana Santa than playing the day after.”
Perez added that RENFE (the high speed trains) also need to arrange for the times in advance, as ticket sales will come as a high commodity.
All of these factors led to the RFEF scheduling the final for 16th April 2014, in the middle of the week, so as not interfere with the weekend matches and allowing the fans to travel to the game and back before commencing their Easter activities.
In regards to tickets to the games, the allotment of tickets is spread out in thirds, one to each team and the final third to the RFEF, but due to it being Real Madrid and Barcelona, the RFEF may have to take a lesser cut, giving both teams close to 20,000 tickets.
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