The Bernabéu is Madrid’s, and its members’. It is not ownerless. It should be clarified, because there is a tendency to see it as a national stadium, at the disposal of the Federation or the State when they want it to be. Athletic and Barça have agreed to ask for it for the final, knowing that Madrid’s first impulse will be to deny it. They will have their logic that the final will be played in it: a great stadium, more or less equidistant, and in the city where the King, whose Copa is at stake, lives. Additionally, the final would leave money for the residents of the city whose name is defended by Real Madrid.
But the Madrid member does not want it, for two reasons, a sporting one and a political one. The sporting one is the unpleasant prospect of Barça undertaking their victory lap there while their anthem rings out. The other reason understands that the many separatists of both teams will be more pleased about whistling the National Anthem and the King in the Bernabéu than in any other place and they don’t want to give them that pleasure. I see that the second reason weighs more than the first. Such that I imagine Florentino will say no, and this time without hiding behind any works, but instead with the will of the members, who have already had their say on the stadium.
Florentino would have a chance to take the first step, to make sport pedagogy, by invoking his two colleagues, Bartomeu and Urrutia, to make an unequivocal and joint proclamation in favour of the proper behaviour of their fans for the occasion. (Well, they could have made that appeal in yesterday’s letter). For a long time there has been a lack of generosity and naturalness in relations between clubs, but I have not lost hope that between us we can seize the opportunity. An Athletic-Barça final at the Bernabéu, the ground of the ten-time champions of Europe, would enhance our football.
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