Real Madrid and Barcelona FC are set for a decisive El Clasico this weekend, but bizarrely, all the talk around the famous derby is centred around Drake and his OVO Sound logo.
What’s Drake’s OVO logo got to do with El Clasico?
Social media went into an uproar when, seemingly out of the blue, pictures of Drake holding up Barcelona FC’s home jersey with the silhouette of his famous OVO owl logo surfaced on the internet.
As reported by Sport Bible, this was a slick announcement of the homage Spotify is paying to the Certified Lover Boy for being the first artist ever to reach 50 billion streams on the music platform.
In honour of the achievement, Spotify, a kit sponsor of the Catalan giants, will replace its logo, which usually sits on the chest of the jersey, with Drake’s OVO owl on Sunday’s El Clasico fixture.
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“Spotify has given this privileged space on the jersey as part of the framework of the partnership with the Club, just one of the actions that both brands are putting into place to offer innovative experiences for football fans, as well as helping to reach new audiences through music,” a statement on Barca’s website read.
Barcelona FC vs Real Madrid: Team news, kick off times
For neutral football fans, this Drake x Barca collab is an interesting shift in sports marketing. On a less serious note, it was also a perfect opportunity to reintroduce the ‘Drake curse’, a phenomenon that’s followed the rapper for years.
What this means for Barcelona is that if the ‘curse’ exists, Sunday’s El Clasico could result in dropped points.
However, purists will understand that it takes a little more than Drake’s streak of bad luck to earn three points in football. Barcelona FC will look to retain their position at the summit of La Liga and, hopefully, gain distance from their rivals.
Heading to the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Barca is without:
- Memphis Depay (injury)
- Ronald Araujo (injury)
- Jules Kounde (doubt but could feature)
- Hector Bellerin (injury)
- Andreas Christensen (injury)
The full complement of the team’s starting lineup at Wednesday’s disappointing draw against Inter Milan in the Champions League is, however, still available for head coach Xavi to field on Sunday.
In Real Madrid’s case, Thibaut Courtois is a minor doubt due to a back problem, per Sports Mole. However, it’s likely he may feature in the El Clasico. Other doubts for Los Blancos include:
- Dani Ceballos (injury)
- Antonio Rudiger (doubt but could feature)
Real Madrid vs Barcelona FC takes place on Sunday, 16 October 2022, at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. In South Africa, the El Clasico kicks off at 16:15.
The fixture will be broadcast live on SuperSport.
