The stadium hosting the Super Cup, King Saud University Stadium, cost 51 million euros. Gattuso, Buffon, and many other celebrities will be in attendance, from Baggio to Capello
Riyadh’s “big eye” already knows what it will be watching all week. The Saudis must have read Tolkien or watched Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings over and over again. The Kingdom Centre, the city’s fourth-tallest skyscraper at 302 meters, resembles the tower of Barad-dur, home of Sauron, the fiery eye from the novel “that pierces shadows and flesh.” The modern version dominates the skyline and overlooks the 25,000-seat King Saud University Stadium, host of the Italian Super Cup.
The semifinals and final will be played here, just like last year (the sixth time in Saudi Arabia). It is the home of Cristiano Ronaldo, who is getting closer and closer to 1,000 career goals, and of a trio of familiar faces from Serie A: Brozovic, Coman, and João Félix, currently the top scorer in the Saudi League ahead of CR7 with 11 goals. Not bad at all. The stadium is also known as Al-Awwal Park and has a nickname all its own: they call it “the perimeter of horror.” But the reality is quite different. King Saud Stadium, built of perforated steel, changes color depending on the sun and how the light reflects off the surrounding sand. It can be brown or golden. It cost €51 million and will be modernized for the 2034 World Cup, which has been awarded to Saudi Arabia. The seats are yellow and blue: the colors of Al-Nassr, currently leading the league.
Famous faces—  Napoli, Inter, Milan, and Bologna will battle it out in this setting and in a packed stadium: Napoli vs. Milan—scheduled for tomorrow at 8 p.m. Italian time—is already sold out, while only a few tickets remain for Inter vs. Bologna. There will also be several familiar faces in the stands: Rino Gattuso, the national team coach, and Gigi Buffon will watch the semifinals and finals, as will Marco Materazzi, while on December 22—the date of the final match—there will also be various ambassadors such as Roberto Baggio, Bobo Vieri, Ciro Ferrara, Leonardo Bonucci, Christian Panucci, Vincent Candela, and Fabio Capello, winner of four Italian Super Cups as a coach (three with Milan, one with Roma). Finally, representing Serie A at the final will be Giorgio Chiellini, Juventus’ Director of Football Strategy; Parma CEO Federico Cherubini; Udinese Vice President Stefano Campoccia; and Adriano Galliani, another veteran of the competition. Welcoming the participating teams will be Lega CEO Luigi De Siervo and Head of Competitions Andrea Butti. Also in the stands will be Gigi Di Biagio, coach of the Saudi U23 team. Yesterday, they won the Gulf Cup. It remains to be seen whether Simone Inzaghi, coach of Al Hilal—currently second in the league—will also be present.

Prize money—  Prize money breakdown. The Super Cup winner will receive 9.5 million euros, plus another 1.5 million for playing a friendly match against the winner of the Saudi Super Cup. The losing finalist, on the other hand, will receive 6.7 million. The two defeated semifinalists will each receive 2.4 million. Additionally, the 16 league teams not involved in the Final Four will share another 2 million euros. An increasingly lucrative competition.