Your Saturday morning Copa Del Rey Open Thread

Yes, today the only game that matters is the Copa Del Rey.  It pits La Liga leader Barcelona against 7th place Sevilla at the new home of Atlético Madrid, the Wanda Metropolitano stadium on the east side of Madrid.  It’s a very nice stadium.  We drove by it last year.

As for the game, this will be Andrés Iniesta’s last Copa Del Rey as he is set to join Chinese club Chongqing Dangdai Lifan this summer.  For those of you not fluent in Chinese (Mandarin or Cantonese), that is loosely translated as Chongqing Givya Money.

This is where Chongqing (formerly known as ChungKing) is located:

and this is what it looks like:

Now, this is an old picture.  There is something new going up at the confluence of the rivers:

This project is expected to be completed in 2019.  The towers will be mixed use with residential units, commercial, and hotel space.  If this seems familiar it’s because the design team is from Singapore, home of the Sands Marina:

Yes, I’ve been to the top at the very tip (phrasing) and it’s as spectacular as it looks.  It is fucking COOL.  It also helps that there is a casino at the bottom.

Real Talk: I don’t understand how it is that Vegas is surviving.  There are a LOT of impressive places to gamble in Asia (Macau and Singapore come immediately to mind) and online sportsbooks are perfectly legal.  If you are an Asian whale, why the fuck would you cross the Pacific to go to Las Vegas?

Oh yeah…

Anyhoo, what were we talking about?

Oh yeah, soccer.  Here are your listings (All times Pacific):

One last thing before I go:  GO WATCH SUPER TROOPERS 2!!!!

Also, for you betting types, I’m putting down some money on China being the first country to nuke its own cities to quell a rebellion.  When I was in Beijing, I just got that vibe…

Have a nice Saturday!