The Supercoppa Italiana semi-final between Napoli and Fiorentina at Riyadh's Al-Awwal Stadium received almost no crowd – with barely a stand filled.
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Supercoppa Italiana played in Al-Awwal Stadium in SaudiNapoli and Fiorentina semi-final sees almost empty stadiumNapoli win 3-0 over La ViolaWHAT HAPPENED?
The decision to play the Supercoppa in the Saudi capital seems to have backfired for the Italian Football Federation as the stands remain deserted deep into the match, putting a lot of questions on the decision to play the four-team tournament in Saudi Arabia, copied from the format introduced by the Spanish Supercopa in 2019.
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Walter Mazzarri's Napoli beat Fiorentina 3-0 in the semi-final in the deserted stadium. They will be hoping to see better attendance in the final on Sunday. Napoli will be looking to start their year with a trophy as they have struggled so far in the league, as they sit eighth in Serie A with their title defence not going as well as I Partenopei would have hoped.
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Just a few days ago, Al-Awwal also hosted the Supercopa de Espana final between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. The 4-1 win for Los Blancos saw an almost sell-out crowd of 23,977. The two semi-finals also saw crowds of over 23,000. The clash between Los Blancos and Atletico Madrid saw an attendance of 23,982. Meanwhile, Barca's win over Osasuna saw an attendance of 23,932.
WHAT NEXT?
The second semi-final of the Supercoppa Italiana will be between Inter Milan and Lazio and the two clubs will be eagerly hoping to see a much better attendance as the game will be on Friday, which is technically considered the weekend in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.