On Monday, oil was thrown on the fire again: in a press release, Barça demanded the resignation of La Liga president Javier Tebas, following press reports that he had given the prosecution a letter implicating wronged two former presidents of the club in the “Negreira” affair.
A Barcelona court is still investigating on the basis of a complaint concerning suspicious payments of money, to the tune of 7.3 million euros, made by the Catalan club to companies belonging to the former N.2 of the Spanish referee, José Maria Enriquez Negreira.
On the same day, UEFA boss Aleksander Ceferin, who should be reappointed for a third term as head of European football at the Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday in Lisbon, said in an interview with the media Slovenian Ekipa that the scandal affecting Barça “is one of the most serious situations” he has “never seen in football”.
Ten days ago, on March 23, UEFA announced the opening of an investigation into a “possible violation of the legal framework” of the body by FC Barcelona, already charged since March 10 in Spain with some of its former leaders for “corruption”, “breach of trust” and “false business records”.
“On ne parle pas de Negreira”
It is in this tense context, in addition to all the media attention focused on a possible return of Lionel Messi to the club this summer, that Barça, institutionally shaken but solid on the ground, approach their last clasico of the season.
The Catalans have won the last three clasicos to date (3-1 in the Spanish Super Cup final in January in Saudi Arabia, 1-0 in the Copa semi-final first leg in Madrid on March 2, and 2-1 at home March 19 in La Liga), and do not seem visibly affected by these legal turmoil.
“Extra-sporting matters don’t enter the dressing room. We talk about what we have to correct, how to position ourselves… We don’t talk about Negreira, Tebas, UEFA… We want just to prove that we can beat them again,” Xavi said at a press conference on Tuesday.
Barça, which comes out of a resounding victory at the red lantern Elche on Saturday (4-0) having given the executives a break, already dominated Real two weeks ago at Camp Nou in an exciting La Liga return match , even as the “Negreira affair” exploded in Spain.
On Wednesday, Xavi still won’t be able to count on Ousmane Dembélé and Pedri, but will also have to do without Frenkie de Jong and Andreas Christensen, all injured.
Ancelotti against the wall
At Real, the mood is optimistic. Brilliant Sunday against Valladolid (6-0), the “White House” was able to count on Karim Benzema, author of a hat-trick in six minutes and thirty seconds, including an acrobatic third goal.
“For me, the clasico is and will always be the most important match. We are very close to the final, so we will do everything we can to play it. But that does not mean that we will try to score like crazy. The idea is to play a complete match,” summarized Carlo Ancelotti on Tuesday at a press conference.
The Italian technician, who promised that Real would win a trophy this season, is up against the wall: in the event of elimination on Wednesday, he will have no other choice but to retain the Champions League title to hold on speak, given that the Merengues are twelve points behind the Catalans in La Liga.