Atletico Madrid’s Vicente Calderon will be the venue for the final of this season’s Copa del Rey, the Spanish Football Federation confirmed on Monday.
The match between Deportivo Alaves and reigning Cup holders, FC Barcelona on May 27th should be the last official game played in the stadium as Atletico leave their home of the past 50 years at the end of the current campaign to play in the Wanda Metropolitan Stadium, which is currently being completed and scheduled to be ready for the start of the 2017-2018 season.
It will be the second time in two years that the Calderon has hosted the Cup final as it was the venue for the 2015-16 final in which Barcelona defeated Sevilla 2-0 after extra-time.
The Vicente Calderon was the obvious choice after Real Madrid president, Florentino Perez said on February 9th, that the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium was unavailable for use due to building work.
It is the fourth time Real Madrid have refused to allow their ground to be used in the last six years when their tradition rivals Barcelona have reached the final.
Alaves had asked for Athletic Club Bilbao’s San Mames stadium as the venue, but that was impossible because rock group Guns and Roses are due to play in the ground on May 30th.
(INPUTS FROM XINHUA)
