Anyone who was in the country of Ireland last week will know that Bruce Springsteen is on a European tour, and will be playing a couple of nights at Croke Park (hopefully...don't mention The Garth).
Not only will the GAA headquarters be rocking with the sounds of the Boss in May, but he will also head to Spain to play concerts in Madrid, San Sebastián and Barcelona.
The date of the Copa del Rey final and its location are still to be confirmed, given that Sevilla are in with a chance of also making the Europa League final again, but there had been a number of reports that Barcelona and Sevilla were pushing to have it held in the capital.
The Santiago Bernabéu stadium, as the biggest neutral ground, would generate the most revenue for both teams, but Real Madrid were refusing to be drawn on the topic, as there was some speculation that they would prefer for their rivals not to be crowned cup champions on their home turf.
However, the whole issue has been side-stepped thanks to the fact that Bruce Springsteen announced the dates for the rest of his European tour on Tuesday morning, and he'll be stopping in Madrid on the 21st of May, the provisional date for the cup final.
The relationship between Real Madrid and The Spanish football federation (RFEF) has been tense in recent weeks and months given that manager Zinedine Zidane's new assistant David Bettoni does not have the requisite qualifications to be sitting on the bench with the Frenchman, and isn't allowed to do so anymore after a ruling from the federation. The decision is being appealed by the Consejo Superior de Deportes (Spanish Sports Council), but this is unlikely to help the relationship any less fraught.
Tensions were further escalated as a result of the expulsion of the club from the Copa del Rey for fielding an ineligible player, with the Madrid club claiming they had not been informed of the player's suspension from the competition.
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