Athletic Club andReal Madrid will go down the wireatKing Fahd Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in the Finalof the2021-22 Spanish Super Cupon Sunday, January 16, 2022,at 1:30 PM (ET).This will only be theirsecond Supercopa de Españameeting.
Interestingly,Athletic Club are the slight favorites inhead-to-headclashes, having celebrated a victory on their sole occasion so far; Real Madrid are surprisingly yet to graba triumphto this day, and no matches haveended in a draw.
Their lone Spanish Super Cup encounter took place on January 14, 2021, when the Basque shocked the Whites witha 2-1 win inthe 2020-21Semi-Finals. It promises to be an even more exciting clash as they meet again in the competition exactly a year later,this time to determine the new Supercopa de España winner.
Will there be VAR in the 2022 Spanish Super Cup Final?
Referee Jose Maria Sanchez Martinez checks the VAR screen. (Jose Manuel Alvarez/Getty Images)
There will beVAR in the 2022 Spanish Super Cup Final, and it will operate as it does in the UEFA Champions League. The VAR room, where VAR officialswatch thematch visuals,will not be in the sports facility of Ciudad del Futbol de Las Rozas in Las Rozas de Madrid, as it is for La Liga.Mobile squads will be stationed on the ends of each stadium to carry out the operation, just like in the case of the UCL.
This is an unusual practice for Spain, but it ismostly prompted by the fact that stadiums like the Estadio Nuevo Arcangel in Cordoba and La Cartuja in Seville have never been arbitrated with thetechnology and are not equipped to link directly with the video operationroom. Therefore mobile units must be used.
The Spanish Super Cup has returnedto Saudi Arabia for the first time since 2020. However, for the 2022 Supercopa de España edition, the goal-line technology has been discarded.The Hawkeyetechnology is efficient and effective, but Spanish publication DiarioAS suggests thatit costs a lot, and itrequires 14 unique sets of cameras, which the Royal Spanish Football Federation(RFEF) believesis superfluous.
