Sevilla’s entry into the Europa League preliminaries and Barcelona’s packed list of lucrative summer friendlies means that organisers face a headache fitting in the traditionally season-opening Supercopa de Espana, according to Mundo Deportivo.
The two clubs will contest next term’s showpiece because Barca won the La Liga and Copa del Rey-double – smashing Sevilla 5-0 in last month’s final as they painfully earned their berth.
To accommodate these two sides, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) look like they will have to give up either the event’s traditional time slot or its two-legged format.
Sevilla earned seventh spot and entry to the Europa’s second qualifying round with a 1-1 derby draw against Real Betis this weekend. This means they will have matches on July 26 and August 2, August 9 and 16, plus August 23 and 20 if they are to make the competition proper.
La Liga is scheduled to start on August 18 and 19, meaning the only plausible dates to play the Supercopa would be the weekends of August 4/5 and August 11/12. But Barca will fulfil the third-and-final fixture of their United States tour on August 4 against AC Milan in San Francisco.
As a result, the Federation must either make it a one-off clash on August 11/12, or move it to a suitable date outside August.
