Culture
Real Madrid have filed a request to La Liga to move their final game of the season to enable more time to set up for Taylor Swift’s concert at the Bernabeu the following week.
Madrid are set to play Real Betis on Sunday May 24 before Swift’s Madrid leg of The Eras Tour takes place on Thursday May 30.
The club have asked for the fixture to be moved to an earlier date, with Saturday May 23 in mind, to allow more time to prepare the stadium for the 34-year-old singer’s concert.
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Madrid are also attempting to find an additional date to host a second Swift concert in light of the interest they have received.
There are complications over whether the request will be granted given both teams could still have something to play for heading into the final round of La Liga fixtures.
The title race could go down to the final game of the season, with Madrid six points ahead of second place Girona, while Betis could remain in contention for a European place. Betis sit seventh in La Liga, one point behind Real Sociedad in the league’s final European spot.
Madrid would need to play their final league fixture at the same time as Girona and Betis would need to play at the same time as the other teams in contention to qualify for Europe in the interest of sporting fairness.
Swift is set to visit a number of football stadiums as part of the 2024 tour, including Liverpool’s Anfield, Wembley Stadium in London and Lyon’s Groupama Stadium.
Concerns had been raised over her Lyon dates, with the risk of them clashing with the Ligue 1 relegation play-off. Lyon sit three points above the Ligue 1 relegation play-off place.
GO DEEPER
Measuring the superstar impact of Taylor Swift and Lionel Messi on American sports
(AP Photo/Ed Zurga)
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Guillermo began his career covering Real Madrid and the sports industry for Diario AS. He later moved to London and became AS and Cadena Ser correspondent. He has since returned to Madrid and joins us at The Athletic where he will deliver Real Madrid news, interviews, stories, and more.
