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Barcelona suffers ‘Drake curse’ after celebrating him with shirt logo in Clasico
Drake posted a photo of his betting slip, showing he could win a payout of 3.9 million Canadian dollars if FC Barcelona won and they lost.
Drake wearing FC Barcelona jersey | Picture: Twitter
Barcelona celebrated Canadian rapper Drake with a logo on the front of their shirts in the Clasico against Real Madrid on Sunday, as part of their Spotify sponsorship deal.
To celebrate Drake becoming the first artist to reach 50 billion plays on the music streaming platform, Barcelona and Spotify agreed to replace the brand’s logo with an owl silhouette.
The logo is the image of OVO (October’s Very Own), a clothing brand owned by Drake, who placed a bet of over 800,000 Canadian dollars (600,000 US dollars) on Barcelona and Arsenal, who played Leeds in the Premier League on Sunday, to both win their games.
He posted a photo of his betting slip on Instagram on Sunday, showing he could win a payout of 3.9 million Canadian dollars.
“This doesn’t feel real but it is,” said Drake on the social networking app on Friday, posting a picture of himself holding a Barcelona shirt emblazoned with the owl design.
“Our alliance with Spotify goes beyond a mere commercial relationship,” said Barcelona’s vice-president for marketing, Juli Guiu.
“As we have stated on numerous occasions, it is a strategic relationship through which we seek to bring together two worlds that can arouse emotion, namely music and football.”
Barcelona signed a sponsorship deal with the Swedish company in March which also saw their stadium officially renamed the Spotify Camp Nou, worth a reported 300 million euros (292 million dollars).
‘Real Madrid more mature than Barcelona,’ said Xavi after Clasico loss
Barcelona coach Xavi said Real Madrid beat his team in the Clasico because they were more mature.
Los Blancos earned a 3-1 win at the Santiago Bernabeu to replace Barca at the top of La Liga on Sunday, moving three points clear of their Catalan rivals.
The defeat came after a draw with Inter Milan in the Champions League which leaves Barcelona on the verge of a second successive group stage elimination.
“They beat us on maturity, in knowing how to compete,” Xavi told a press conference. “We competed worse than our opponents, that’s why we lost the game. They are a team that’s more mature than ours at this moment.”
Barcelona signed various players in the summer, including La Liga’s top goalscorer Robert Lewandowski, Jules Kounde and Raphinha.
Real Madrid’s side is more settled, with the only player starting the Clasico not at the club last season being midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni.
Madrid moved ahead through Karim Benzema after Vinicius Junior got behind Sergi Roberto, with Fede Valverde drilling home the second. Ferran Torres pulled one back but a Rodrygo penalty sealed Madrid’s win.
“We played against a great team, who are very sure of their plan,” continued Xavi. “The first goal cannot be allowed to happen. And you go in at 2-0 down, after they had just three chances and we made various.
“We have to mature. Against Inter, Bayern Munich, in Milan, here, these are games where we weren’t (mature enough), but we will learn.”
Barcelona host Villarreal on Thursday as they look to keep the pressure on the division’s new leaders, who visit Elche on Wednesday.
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