It is a cold war climate which is shaking Spanish football. In recent years, Barça and Real Madrid had clearly put aside their rivalry to work together on numerous projects, such as the famous European Super League. Joan Laporta and Florentino Pérez got along particularly well, and the almost hatred that some supporters had for each other was clearly not reflected in the offices. But things have changed recently, especially after the withdrawal of the Catalan club from the Super League project.
It is also no coincidence that, since Barça gave up this controversial project in October, Florentino Pérez has increased the number of media outings attacking the Catalan club. The most recent was on Monday, during a Christmas speech which had nothing joyful or benevolent, and during which the Merengue boss took aim at FC Barcelona because of the Negreira affair. Real Madrid’s communication – notably via its official television – in recent months has also been very focused on this affair which is embarrassing the Catalans, while initially, the Madrilenians were rather reserved and measured on this subject. Which really annoyed the socios, who didn’t understand why Pérez didn’t go on the attack. For his part, Joan Laporta does not give in and has also made quite harsh remarks against the sworn enemy.
Barça sided with Nasser
And in this deleterious climate that Spanish football is experiencing at the moment, there is a key man who is none other than… Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, president of Paris Saint-Germain, but above all president of the ECA, member of the UEFA Executive Committee and very influential with Alexander Ceferin. There Cadena SER thus indicates that it is the rapprochement between Barça and the Qatari which triggered this war, since Real Madrid is clearly in clash with UEFA, but also with PSG and its president. The images of Laporta and NAK kissing would even have been deliberately put forward to hurt the Madrilenians, and Pérez would have perceived that as a real betrayal.
The media therefore specifies that in addition to wanting to hurt Real Madrid, Barça also wanted to get closer to UEFA for its interests, in order to lower its sanction linked to financial fair play, which was a success since the Catalan club’s fine went from 60 to 15 million euros. Just as Barça believes that by approaching European authorities, the Negreira affair will not spread too far beyond Spanish borders and will not have any possible consequences for the club on the European scene. One thing is certain, the role of Nasser Al-Khelaïfi in this war between the two Iberian giants will be essential, and for the moment, he is clearly leaning in favor of Barça…
