Real Madrid have asked La Liga to move their final match of the season forward by a day because they want more time to prepare their Bernabeu home for a concert on the Taylor Swift Eras tour.
The pop star is playing the stadium in the Spanish capital on May 30, four days after Madrid are scheduled to host Real Betis.
Madrid would prefer to play the previous day and are also attempting to arrange a second Swift performance as a result of her popularity.
The chances of Madrid’s request being granted could be complicated by issues of sporting fairness.
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Carlo Ancelotti’s side are six points ahead of second-placed Girona and eight clear of Barcelona behind them, so it is not unfeasible that the title race could go down to the final day of the campaign, depending on how many points the leaders drop during their closing 13 league matches.
Betis are also hoping to qualify for Europe, sitting a point behind Real Sociedad, who occupy the final qualification place.
La Liga and both teams’ rivals would be likely to view it as unfair if Madrid and Betis do not play a potentially decisive match at the same time as the rest of La Liga.
Taylor Swift Eras Tour venues
Swift is playing some of the largest stadiums around Europe as part of the highest-grossing tour in history.
The concerts are thought to have totalled more than $1 billion in revenue and will head to Europe in May.
The 34-year-old will play Paris’ La Defense Arena before visiting the Friends Arena in Stockholm, which is the home of the Sweden national team.
Benfica and Portugal’s Stadio da Luz is the stop before the Bernabeu, followed by Lyon’s Groupama Stadium and other settings familiar to football fans including Anfield, Wembley Stadium and the Johan Cruyff Arena.
Lyon accommodated the shows to bring in revenue but are likely to have to play a relegation play-off home game elsewhere if they finish third from bottom of Ligue 1 because the scheduled date for the match coincides with Swift’s concert.
