Rafael Louzán: ‘We will enjoy an exciting final contested by two great ambassadors for Spain in the world’.

With the finalists finalising their plans before the Spanish Super Cup final, the Royal Spanish Football Federation hosted the official reception for guests prior to the climax of the competition.

Next to the match ball and the trophy that the winning team will lift into the night sky this Sunday, Rafael Louzán thanked the attendees for their presence, which included members of the Spanish community in the Saudi country, the honorary consul of Spain at the embassy in Riyadh, Sheikh Abdulaziz Kaki, as well as representatives from  the two finalists.

The president of the RFEF stressed that the match between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona ‘will be followed closely by more than 50 million people around the world thanks to the impact of these two titans of the sport, who are also the best ambassadors for Spain and the final is also a way to give something back after all the affection received these past days in Jeddah’.

Today is a day to be happy and content,’ continued Louzán, ‘as the culmination of a week in which we have done many things for the good of our sport, and constantly receiving the affection of a place that loves Spanish football. In 2030 it will be Spain, together with Morocco and Portugal, who will host the World Cup, which four years later will be held in Saudi Arabia. We want to go hand in hand with this great country because their success will be ours.

‘The match will be closely followed by more than 50 million people around the world’.

In this sense, the Honorary Consul of Spain recalled that ‘the Spanish Super Cup is one of the biggest sporting events in our country and the fact that it will be played in Jeddah is a great honour for both the local community and for the Spaniards who live or visit here’.

On behalf of the finalists, the Director of Institutional Relations of Real Madrid, Emilio Butragueño, expressed his gratitude for the hospitality received, confessing ‘to be very excited about a match that will be watched by millions of people and which will surely be a great celebration of football’.

This desire was echoed by the president of FC Barcelona, Joan Laporta, who predicted ‘an exciting final like all the matches we have played in recent years. Something that enhances and increases the level of our sport’.

The traditional exchange of gifts and the group photo served as the culmination of an event held on the eve of the end of the first major tournament of the year, which will bring together at the King Abdullah Sports City stadium the two clubs with the most trophies in the history of a competition that is constantly growing and expanding worldwide.

This Sunday's final between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona will be the tenth in the history of the Spanish Super Cup between the two teams, who have accumulated the most titles since the first edition of the tournament was held in the early 1980s and which in recent years has gained new momentum thanks to its successful format with four teams taking part at a neutral venue.