Historic! The RFEF will give the Copa del Rey trophy in ownership to Barça or Madrid

FC Barcelona and Real Madrid will play this Saturday, April 26, the final of the Copa del Rey at La Cartuja. For the eighth time in the 121 editions of the tournament, there will be a Clásico to define the champion of a tournament that Barça has won 31 times, eleven more than the 'merengue' team (20).

In addition, next Saturday's final will be special for a particular reason. From this year, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) will give the trophy of the KO tournament in ownership to the winning team. 

The measure was approved by the RFEF president, Rafael Louzán, modifying the previous statute, which forced the winning clubs to return the original trophy after the celebration on the field. The winners received a replica and only retained ownership in two scenarios.

Why did the RFEF make this decision? What implications does it have for the clubs?

On the one hand, the team that won the Cup in three consecutive editions could keep the original trophy, as well as after winning five editions alternately. However, from 2024-25, the RFEF will award a unique trophy for each season that will go to the showcases of the winning club.

Barça managed to win three consecutive Cups between 1951 and 1953, but their best streak was four titles in a row between 2015 and 2018. Madrid, on the other hand, also won four consecutive titles between 1905 and 1908. Athletic, however, won three consecutive editions on two occasions (from 1914 to 1916 and from 1943 to 1945).

La Cartuja, ready for Barça-Madrid: This is what the stadium looks like after the remodeling!

Estadio de La Cartuja

Meanwhile, La Cartuja is finalizing preparations to receive Barça and Madrid in the final of the Copa del Rey. The stadium now has a very different look, with stands close to the field after the elimination of the athletics track.

This remodeling allowed to expand the capacity to 70,000 spectators. In addition, a new lawn was installed a couple of weeks ago. It only remains to place seats on the stairs of preference.

In the next two years, the Junta de Andalucía hopes to complete the work of optimizing the access roads to the stadium that has hosted the final of the cup competition in the last six seasons.